Sounds from Heaven

Beginning in the 15th century in the Netherlands and France, with the early Renaissance composers Richafort, Ockeghem, and Mouton's settings of Marian texts, this concert brings the audience on a journey through time and around the world, exploring settings of Christian texts used in prayer and worship over the last 600 years.

A setting of the Magnificat by Charles Theodore Pachelbel (Johann Pachelbel’s son), who emigrated to America, and the first American choral composer, William Billings’ adaptation of Psalm 148, sit alongside "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe", a psalm setting by the German composer Felix Mendelssohn.

Contrasting versions of three different religious texts “O Magnum Mysterium”, “Drop, Drop Slow Tears”, and “When David Heard” allow the audience to hear interpretations by Poulenc, Busto, Gibbons, Walton, Wells, Weelkes and Adams.

New Zealand composers featured include Douglas Mews, John Wells, and Chris Adams.