New music


Sounds: voices of our time

Exmoor Singers of London is committed to the promotion of new music and in the past the choir has had strong links with composers such as the late Geoffrey Bush, and with David Sawer, from whom the choir commissioned Sounds: Three Kandinsky Poems for a premiere performance at the 1999 Cheltenham International Music Festival.

In 2001 the choir established a long term project, sounds: voices of our time, with the view to devoting a series of concerts exclusively to the work of living composers, as well as highlighting new works in other concerts, and with a particular focus on British composers.


The first dedicated concert in the series was in the Purcell Room, in the South Bank Centre, London, in May 2002, for which the choir received a four-star review in The Times.

The project also encompasses the commissioning of new works, giving first UK or London performances and - importantly - second performances too.

Works that have featured in the choir's concerts have ranged from those by up-and-coming composers to the most established, and with the youngest being Joseph Fort, aged 16 at the time, and the oldest Elliott Carter, in his nineties.

"The 'sounds: voices of our time' project benefits Exmoor Singers in a great number of ways - we regard it as one of the most potent tools in our development. It is stimulating both for singers and for conductor: the day will never come when we cease striving to get to the bottom of such masterpieces as Bach's motets, but there is a quite different thrill in trying to make something out of dots you've never seen before; by broadening our repertoire it strengthens our general programmes and so benefits our audiences; and it improves us as a choir by developing our sight-reading and stimulating us to invent new choral techniques."
"Above all, though, a choir with the capabilities of Exmoor Singers has a duty to give a voice to those who could be the great composers of tomorrow."

Music Director James Jarvis


The first Sounds: voices of our time CD "CURTAIN" was recorded in June 2007, and will be released in 2008. Exmoor Singers are very grateful for a grant awarded by the Britten-Pears Foundation in support of the creation of this CD.

RELEASED IN OCTOBER 2008 AT THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE 		photo image (c) Phil Hoffman


New commissions


recording and libretti
"I need to write this piece, it's been waiting inside me for a long time, growing from a love of people, memories and landscape in my life. It's a huge love song for my wife, evoking the history and landscape of the Northumbrian coast and in particular the island of Lindisfarne.

On a practical level, I want to write a piece that is within the reach of a good amateur choir and can also act as a convincing companion piece to the Thomas Tallis 40-part 'Spem in Alium'. Exmoor Singers of London and their director James Jarvis are the perfect performers for this; I've had a close working relationship with them. They have a unique insight and understanding into what I'm trying to achieve."
 recording and libretti

   Composer Peter McGarr

Other first performances

  • Kanon Pokajanen - Odes III, VI & IX - Arvo Pärt (first London performance 2001)
  • Ave Maria – Joseph Fort (first performance 2002)
  • In the Beginning was the Word - David Moses (first concert performance 2002)
  • The Silent Land – Giles Swayne (first performance with choral forces envisaged by the composer 2003)
  • Crusades soundtrack (2005) - Avshalom Caspi
  • U (2005) - Yannis Kyriakides
  • An Exhortation of St Peter – James Lavino (UK first performance 2006)
  • Songs of Innocence and Experience – Michael Stimpson (first performance 2007)

Associated composers

Exmoor Singers has been delighted to have worked with a number of composers, and to have had others accepting invitations to attend concerts in which their works have been performed. These composers and their respective works include:

  • Julian Anderson (b. 1967, England) - I'm a Pilgrim, Bright Morning Star!
  • Paul Ayres (b. 1970, England) - Nature and Man, This Sceptr'd Isle
  • Geoffrey Bush (b.1920, d. 1998, England) - Fog, Fred's Dead
  • Avshalom Caspi (b.1969, Israel) Crusades soundtrack, 'Bloc Party' arrangements, 'Snow Patrol' arrangement
  • Joseph Fort (b. 1985, England) - Ave Maria
  • Philip Godfrey (b. 1964, England) - Song
  • Yannis Kyriakides (b.1969, Cyprus) - U
  • James Lavino (b. 1973, USA) – An Exhortation of St Peter, Turn, Beloved, Peaceful was the night, Three Auden Settings
  • Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b. 1963, Finland) – Psalm 150 in Grandsire Triples, Tentatio
  • Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (b. 1934, England) – A Hoy Calendar
  • Peter McGarr (b. 1953, England) – Beautiful Days, Two Lullabies, Dreaming England (This Sceptr'd Isle), Love You Big As The Sky
  • David Moses (b. 1941, England) – In the Beginning was the Word
  • David Sawer (b. 1961, England) – Sounds: Three Kandinsky Poems
  • Michael Stimpson (b.1948, England) - Songs of Innocence and Experience
  • Giles Swayne (b. 1946, England) – The Silent Land
  • Artem Vassiliev (b. 1974, Kazakhstan) – Song
"I am very pleased to be associated with Exmoor Singers of London, whose commitment to new music impresses and inspires.

Under the expert direction of James Jarvis, the choir recently gave excellent performances of two pieces of mine (including a UK premiere). With 'Turn, Beloved', especially, Exmoor Singers were uniquely sensitive in their approach to dynamics and phrasing, bringing out qualities of the work that I have not heard in performances by other groups.

I look forward to future collaborations with this talented choir."
Composer James Lavino

Composer James Lavino

In addition other living composers whose works have featured in recent concerts have included Mark Argent, Nicolas Bacri, James Bassi, Richard Rodney Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Gavin Bryars, Elliott Carter, Jonathan Dove, Louis Halsey, Jonathan Harvey, John Kilpatrick, Morten Lauridsen, Stephen Jackson, Colin Matthews, Nicholas Maw, James MacMillan, Knut Nystedt, Krzysztof Penderecki, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Edwin Roxbourgh, John Rutter, Jan Sandström, Howard Skempton, Alastair Stout, John Tavener, Joby Talbot, Judith Weir, Eric Whitacre, and John Woolrich.

Exmoor Singers of London is grateful to the PRS Foundation for providing financial support for the sounds: voices of our time project.


Audio clips

The audio clips below are live recordings provided as examples of some of the works by living composers that Exmoor Singers has promoted as part of the sounds: voices of our time project.

Paul Ayres - Ruth
Paul Ayres - This Sceptr'd Isle   NEW COMMISSION
Philip Godfrey - Song
James Lavino - Turn, Beloved
James Lavino - An Exhortation of St Peter
Peter McGarr - Dreaming England (This Sceptr'd Isle)   NEW COMMISSION
Artem Vassiliev - From the Song
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi - Tentatio - part 1 (Tallis Festival Choir)   NEW COMMISSION
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi - Tentatio - part 2 (Tallis Festival Choir)
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi - Tentatio - part 3 (Tallis Festival Choir)
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi - Tentatio - part 4 (Tallis Festival Choir)
Peter McGarr - Love You Big as the Sky - part 1 (Tallis Festival Choir)   NEW COMMISSION
Peter McGarr - Love You Big as the Sky - part 2 (Tallis Festival Choir)
Peter McGarr - Love You Big as the Sky - part 3 (Tallis Festival Choir)


Dedicated 'sounds: voices of our time' concerts

New music features in most of Exmoor Singers' concerts, but these concerts have been dedicated entirely to the 'sounds: voices of our time' project.

Sounds V: voices of our time - Mon 20 Oct 2008, Purcell Room, South Bank Centre

Sounds IV: voices of our time - Sat 28 Jul 2007, The Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair

Sounds III: voices of our time - Mon 12 Jul 2004, Shoreditch Church

Sounds II: voices of our time - Thur 15 May 2003, Purcell Room, South Bank Centre

Sounds: voices of our time - Mon 27 May 2002, Purcell Room, South Bank Centre

   

Easter Concert 2010