Nicholas Mulroy director

In times of isolation we find ourselves longing for community — for acts of kindness, understanding, and generosity of spirit. Few texts seem more fitting just now than the opening of the Lamentations of Jeremiah: ‘How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations!’ 

As we come to terms with a prolonged period of social isolation, we reflect upon these themes in music from the Renaissance to the present day. From Orlande de Lassus’s exquisite five-part Lamentations and William Byrd’s haunting Ne irascaris Domine and Civitas sancti tui, to the contemporary voices of James MacMillan and Cecilia McDowall. A new work from Ninfea Crutwell-Reade, specially commissioned for our a cappella consort during the period of lockdown, completes the programme.