A musical tribute to nature.

Every year, Amsterdam Sinfonietta brings special guests to PLT for a new concert experience. Tonight, together with the 'gold standard' in the a cappella world, the British vocal ensemble VOCES8, they pay tribute to nature. In a varied programme from Biber to the Beatles, and from the medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen to a new lyrical work by Mathilde Wantenaar, the most beautiful birdsongscan be heard .

Birds of all shapes and sizes

Barber's compelling Adagio for Strings evokes a universal sense of sadness, beauty and hope. In Agnes Dei, his later arrangement for choir, this feeling is reinforced. The version for choir ánd strings, performed by Amsterdam Sinfonietta and VOCES8, will leave no one unmoved. The Lark Ascending, the heavenly song of the lark, also reaches greater heights in the special arrangement for solo violin, strings and choir. And so more birds make themselves heard, like Biber's playful imitations of the nightingale and the cuckoo and Elgar's mysterious Owls. And sometimes, on the contrary, all the birds fall silent, as in Tins The Saddest Noice.

Programme

Golijov K'vakarat: from Dreams and Prayers of Isaac The Blind
Von Bingen: Karitas - Part I
Shaw: The Beech Tree from Plan & Elevation
Shaw: Sarabande from Partita for 8 voices
Shaw: And the Swallow
Biber: The Nightingale from Sonata Representativa
Biber: The Cuckoo from Sonata Representativa
Rameau: La poule
Tin: The Saddest Noise from The Lost Birds
The Beatles: Free As a Bird
Barber: Agnus Dei (version choir and string orchestra)
Hasse: Fuga e Grave in g
Wantenaar: New work
Elgar: Owls; from 4 Part Songs
Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending (version violin, string orchestra and choir)

VOCES8 (UK) & Amsterdam Sinfonietta Birdsong