ConcertPulse
Good Friday Concert: tenebrae
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
On Good Friday, the acclaimed British vocal ensemble Tenebrae and its founder Nigel Short are heading on a musical pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In his full-length a-cappella work »Path of Miracles«, Joby Talbot – who was born in Wimbledon in 1971 – has captured the special atmosphere of four spiritual sites along the Camino de Santiago. Based on Bible quotations and medieval sources, 17 independent vocal parts in seven languages and great stylistic diversity depict the legends of saints and miracles associated with this pilgrimage route. The English composer found his inspiration for the 2005 work – a commissioned piece written specially for Tenebrae – »on location«: »Over the course of ten days I watched little clouds of Pyrenean mist wafting through the medieval streets of Roncesvalles, marvelled at the gruesome reliquaries in austere Burgos, saw storks on church spires in León as the evening sun poured through acres of stained glass, and witnessed traditionally clad Galician villagers harvesting their fields with hand scythes in a manner unchanged for a millennium.« Having reached Santiago and touched the hollow in the pillar at the cathedral, he felt a special closeness to the many generations of pilgrims who had followed the same tradition. »The connection to the past seemed palpable, and it was the feeling I experienced at that moment that I resolved to try to express in the music.«