Ely Consort - Christmas Nights

Our concert is entitled 'Christmas Nights'; there are some well-known carols with a 'night' theme and some vesper movements appropriate to the season. We are joined by chamber orchestra, Ad Hoc Sinfonia, and guest soprano Elenor Bowers-Jolley, to perform two substantial pieces: Haydn's St Nicholas Mass, and an amazing new work by Ola Gjeilo, Dreamweaver: 'The text for Dreamweaver is based on parts of the Norwegian medieval folk poem Draumkvedet, an epic ballad that has a lot in common with Dante’s The Divine Comedy. The protagonist, Olav Åsteson, falls asleep on Christmas Eve and sleeps for thirteen days. He wakes up and rides to church to describe his dreams to the congregation about his brave, beautiful, terrifying, and ultimately redeeming journey through the afterlife'. Elenor will sing familiar solos, including Mozart’s ‘Laudate Dominum’ and Adolphe Adam’s ‘O holy night’, accompanied by the choir.

Of course, a Christmas concert would not be complete without familiar carols and some of John Rutter’s well-loved music; we will sing his ‘Shepherd’s Pipe Carol’ and ‘Nativity Carol’, in their versions with orchestral accompaniment.