Following the successful CD release of Stanford鈥檚 Mass 鈥榁ia Victrix鈥�, 91热爆 National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales鈥� alongside the chorus鈥� Artistic Director, Adrian Partington, return to the concert platform with performances of Stanford鈥檚 Elegiac Ode and Te Deum.
Recommended to Adrian by the Stanford Society, the Elegiac Ode sets to music the poem 鈥榃hen lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloom鈥檇鈥� by the American metaphysical poet Walt Whitman. Written for the 1884 Norwich and Norfolk Festival, the work serves as an ode on the death of the American President Abraham Lincoln, and whilst warmly received at the premiere it is not as widely performed today as his sacred choral works.
Similarly to the Elegiac Ode, his Te Deum, written for the 1898 Leeds Festival, is dominated by beautiful melodies, a warm sonority and rich expressivity. Stanford is so iconically British that it is only fitting to welcome an all British line up of soloists to perform these charming works.