Durham University Chamber Choir: Awake, O North Wind

 A celebration of British and Baltic Choral Music, with works by Finn Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, and British composer, John Barber. Beginning in the Baltics with music by contemporary composers emulating their more orthodox predecessors, ‘Awake, O North Wind’ features music in a range of languages including English, Latin, German, and Russian. This diverse programme varies across the intricacy in Alfred Schnittke’s style to the dense choral tapestry offered by the Finn Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, followed with music by contemporary British composer, John Barber. His rarely performed setting of the ‘Song of Songs’, utilises his characteristic rhythmically diverse work and close attention to the text, capturing emotional moments beautifully, leading to the emphatic closing movement, ‘Love is as Strong as Death’.