‘O Guiding Night – Music inspired by the Spanish mystics

Monday, 15 June 2011

On June 14 in the intimate neighbourhood setting of St James’s Church, Spanish Place, The Sixteen performed a concert of new Genesis Foundation commissions from notable British composers of the younger generation: Ruth Byrchmore, Tarik O’Regan and Roderick Williams. The inspiration for these commissions were the poems of the Spanish mystics St Teresa of Ávila and St John of the Cross, both figures of great intellectual rigour and spiritual power. These commissions were performed alongside music by Spain’s greatest Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, marking the 400th anniversary of his death (1548-1611). Following the one-hour concert, a reception was hosted by the Spanish Ambassador at his magnificent residence in Belgrave Square.