Britons have a renewed appetite for sacred music

Monday, 22 December 2014

The three new Stabat Mater commissions by the Genesis Foundation get a mention in a feature on choral music in The Observer.

The article, entitled Gloria in excelsis deo: Britain tunes in to its spiritual side, looks at Britain’s renewed appetite for sacred music.

In a recent interview John Studzinski, Founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, is quoted: “I believe this is a big swing moment from an age of materialism to and age of the spiritual. There may be a decline in churchgoing, but how many people pray and meditate and listen to spiritual music? I think faith is a bedrock term that implies an ethos and comes from within. That can only become stronger as people have concerns about the stability of the world, the coldness of technology or the gap between rich and poor. You can move people very deeply with spiritual music, and people want to be moved.”

The three new Stabat Maters performed by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen received their world premieres at a free lunchtime concert at LSO St Luke’s earlier this year. The works were released on The Sixteen’s CORO label in November 2014.

To read the full article click here.