Briefly Beautiful

For this final Studio 1 Session, we move to a new setting: the recently renovated Chapel Hall at the Paul van Ostaijen site in Leuven. A unique concert space that, much like our familiar Studio 1 at Flagey, brings together architectural charm, remarkable acoustics, and a sense of intimacy. Close to the singers, you see, hear, and feel how the sound is shaped and comes to life.

The programme brings together a selection from the English choral tradition, with love, melancholy, and poetry as a common thread. At its heart are Benjamin Britten’s Five Flower Songs, inspired by botanical love and echoing composers such as Edward Elgar, who wrote his Three Part Songs as a tribute to his wife Alice, in gratitude for her constant inspiration and support.

Poetry and music go hand in hand: Bob Chilcott draws on a layered sixteenth-century text, Samuel Barber sets James Stephens’ intimate portrait of a secret meeting between lovers in The Coolin, and Roger Quilter turns to the rich world of — inevitably — Shakespeare.