St Peter's Music Festival

For this inaugural St Peter’s Music Festival, which is part of the ongoing series “The Arts and the Faith”, we have put together what we hope is an interesting and engaging pair of concerts, which will be followed by two splendid liturgical celebrations and the annual Patronal Lunch.

On Friday June 27th at 7pm the Foundation Scholars plus a couple of guests are performing one of the most extraordinary pieces to come out of the 16th century. Orlando di Lasso (c.1532-1594) was born in the Netherlands and spent much of his early life studying and working in Rome. In 1556 he joined the court of Albrecht V, Duke of Bavaria and settled in Munich, where he lived for the rest of his life serving both Albrecht and his heir Wilhelm V. The Lagrime di San Pietro was the last piece he wrote – he dedicated it to Pope Clement VIII in May 1594, three weeks before his death. It is a setting of 20 Italian poems describing the stages of grief experienced by St Peter following his denial of Christ, and it ends with a final Latin motet, where the crucified Christ confronts Peter’s betrayal and indeed the sinfulness of humankind. It is highly personal and intense music, and the performance will be accompanied by a series of photographs specially commissioned from Louisa Billeter, one of the regular choristers in the St Peter’s Choir. 

On Saturday 28th the St Peter’s Choir is joined by a brass octet and the Choir of Trinity College for a spectacular performance of music for choir, brass and organ including the setting of Tu es Petrus written by Sir James MacMillan for the visit of Pope Benedict to London in 2010.

On Sunday 29th at High Mass we will have the first performance of a new Mass for St Peter, written by the English composer and organ virtuoso David Goode. David has written us a joyful setting of the Mass text, for choir, organ, strings and trumpets and it will be a fitting way to celebrate our Patronal Feast.