Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Prelude in D major, BWV 532/1
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
Hör mein Bitten, WoO 15
Ville Kujala (s. 1976)
Aurora Borealis
Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)
Rejoice in the Lamb, op. 30
Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
Präludium und Fuge über den Namen B-A-C-H
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
Chichester Psalms
The Helsinki Music Centre Choir
Susanne Kujala, organ
Tuuli Takala, soprano
Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb was written for the 50th anniversary of St. Matthew’s Church in Northampton in 1943. The text is part of a larger collection of poems by Christopher Smart (1722–1771) The theme of the text is one Britten often explored: the individual versus the collective. The influence of Purcell, a composer close to Britten’s heart, is particularly evident in the work’s Hallelujah section.
Hör mein Bitten is the most popular of Mendelssohn’s small-scale choral works. It was completed during the composer’s eighth trip to England in 1844.
In December 1963, Leonard Bernstein received a letter from Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral. He and the cathedral’s organist and choirmaster, John Birch, wished to commission a choral work from Bernstein for the 1965 Chichester Festival.
