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Commissioned by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Chamber Singers, Robert Gehrenbeck, conductor.

See also Missa tiburtina

  • ssx+asx+tsx+barsx
  • SATB chor
  • 20 min

Programme Note

The original a cappella version of Missa Tiburtina (of which this piece is a new version) was commissioned in 1985 by the International Kodaly Society for their Youth Choir, and premiered (without the Gloria) at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 21st July 1985, conducted by John Poole. The Gloria was added later that year, and the full version was performed at the 1986 Proms by the BBC Singers under my direction. It has since been frequently performed and recorded. However, a twenty-minute piece for unaccompanied voices is taxing for all but very experienced choirs, and I have felt for some time that a version with saxophone quartet would make it more widely available, and perhaps add punch and pungency to its message. The Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020 came hard on the proverbial heels of a commission from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Chamber Singers to create this new version. It is to the huge credit of their conductor Bob Gehrenbeck (to whom it is dedicated) that they decided to go ahead despite the uncertainties facing us all. Programme note © 2020 Giles Swayne