Tenebrae returns to Montreux - 17.04.09

Saturday 18th April sees Tenebrae return to Switzerland give the closing concert of the 45th International Choral Festival of Montreux.

During the Festival amateur choirs from around the world compete for the various prizes – the ‘Prix du Jury, the ‘Prix du Public’, the ‘Prix des œuvres imposées’ (compulsory pieces) or the ‘Prix du meilleur programme et de son interprétation’ (best programme and interpretation).

On the Saturday afternoon the choirs all gather to receive the results, the trophies and their prizes and give a combined concert during the afternoon.

This is followed in the evening by a traditional ‘Gala Concert’ given by a specially invited professional choir and for the second time Tenebrae has the honour to give this performance in the magnificent Auditorium Stravinsky in the centre of Montreux (a town with a rich musical history heritage; the Montreux Jazz Festival, Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’, long time resident Freddy Mercury, the recording of Queen, David Bowie and many others).

This year the programme includes some Russian repertoire which showcases the beauty and power of the choral music of composers such as Rachmaninov, Chesnokov and Tchaikovsky (and features the renowned ‘low bass-line’ of Tenebrae’s male singers).

The choir will also perform parts of the ground-breaking 17-part choral masterpiece ‘Path of Miracles’ by Joby Talbot (of ‘The Divine Comedy’ fame). This work was commissioned by Tenebrae in 2005 and takes the listener on a journey along the route of the Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. It is one of the most challenging a cappella works known to modern choirs and calls for many unusual and vituoso vocal techniques.

[for more details see diary section or visit www.choralfestival.ch]