Michael White enjoys two Requiems, a Stabat Mater and two outstanding premieres.
Musically, the journey through Holy Week to Easter is a slow descent into darkness followed by a sudden resurgence of light. And the descent is marked by Stabat Maters, Passion settings, Requiems… a solemn feast largely consumed in minor keys of which I had a surfeit this year, including two Requiems in a single concert at Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre. They were the Fauré and the Rutter, which fit well together, focused as they are on consolation as opposed to brimstone. And as done here, with John Rutter himself conducting the choir of Merton College and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, they made a close connection.
