Vertue (2019)

Vertue by Jonathan Dove casts an eye back to the double choir formations of earlier music, although here each choir acts as a single voice in its own right and moves in parallel chords for much of the piece. The result is a kind of two-part choral counterpoint, the music constantly shifting between clarity and obscurity as it moves from consonance to dissonance. The text by George Herbert contains a number of metaphysical conceits; the day, the rose and the spring are all beautiful natural things that, we are reminded, will eventually die. Dove traces this in the melody of each verse, which rises only to fall down again, with the acknowledgement of death echoing between the choirs. In the last verse Herbert tells us that only the soul of the believer will live on and the music climbs towards this salvation with an inexorable energy. As well as the modal writing and mantra-like repetition commonly found in his work, Vertue showcases the command of colour and dramatist’s sense of narrative Dove brings to his choral works.

Christopher Moore