Voices of Light: Dvořák, Parry, and Pärt

Voices of Light brings the Opus 48 season to a radiant close - a concert that celebrates the power of sacred choral music to illuminate, inspire and move. 

This season finale brings together five masterpieces, each illuminating the power of the human voice in different ways. Sir Hubert Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens - a majestic setting of Milton’s ode - is one of the crowning glories of the English choral tradition. Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn, with its glowing harmonies, offers a moment of prayerful serenity.

Antonín Dvořák’s Mass in D brings warmth and lyrical beauty, blending Czech folk influences with timeless liturgical grandeur. Louis Vierne’s Messe solennelle - originally written for the two organs at Saint-Sulpice in Paris - pairs dramatic choral writing with the majestic sonority of organ accompaniment. Together with Arvo Pärt’s The Beatitudes this programme becomes complete, its stark simplicity and luminous harmonies casting a spell of profound contemplation.

In the atmospheric surroundings of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Opus 48 presents a summer evening of soaring choral music - a true celebration of light, faith and beauty to end the season on a note of transcendence.