Thomas Tallis: Spem in alium
Singers of Nederlands Kamerkoor, Det Norske Solistkor, Tallis Scholars and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Conductor: Peter Dijkstra
Recording: Parmando24Culture
The online streaming has ended! From May 1 – September 27 we streamed a new Psalm on this page daily. Through this initiative, started in a time where we could not perform live, we reached over 20.000 people from across the globe. We thank everyone for the messages of support and moving stories we received and hope to see you all again soon in real life. Stay safe.
The Netherlands Chamber Choir (Nederlands Kamerkoor) will be streaming 150 Psalms, set to music by 150 composers, over the course of 150 days. The Psalms’ themes, based on texts from thousands of years ago, are nowadays as relevant as they were when they were written. The Psalms sing about hope and sorrow, about leaders in trying times and about powerlessness and the joy of life. The Psalms form a mirror of our society. The Netherlands Chamber Choir, the Tallis Scholars, the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street are sharing these performances with the world, hoping it will fill the silence, and bring a moment of hope in the world. We are immensely looking forward to meeting our audiences again in real life. The performances were recorded by Parmando 24Culture.
[dansheet file=1 sheetname=”Overzicht” cell=K2 class=”gsheets-special”]
Note: this programme note was taken from the programme booklet for the original project in 2017. The performance order of the Psalms was different to the way we will be streaming the Psalms online. Nonetheless these notes may provide you with additional background information on the musicological concept and the Psalm themes.
150 Psalms was initiated by the Netherlands Chamber Choir and its artistic and general manager Tido Visser in 2017. During the Early Music Festival in Utrecht (NL), the Netherlands Chamber Choir, the Tallis Scholars, the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street performed a ‘monumental ode to 1,000 years choral music’. In 12 concerts spread over 2 days, they performed musical settings of all 150 Psalms by 150 different composers. The Psalms, arranged into 12 different themes by theologian Gerard Swüste, are a combination of both older and newer compositions. This marathon-concert tour premiered during the Early Music Festival Utrecht (NL) in 2017, followed by performances in New York (2017), Brussels (2018) and Adelaide (2020).
