Resoundingly Rutter

Celebrating the music of John Rutter, England’s foremost composer and arranger of choral music, gives the Tauranga Civic Choir an opportunity to present to the audience a performance of some of the most beautiful music written in the twentieth century.

The main work in the programme is Magnificat. The Magnificat is a poetic outpouring of praise, joy and trust in God, ascribed by Luke to the Virgin Mary on learning that she was to give birth to Christ. It has always been one of the most familiar and well-loved of scriptural texts. Magnificat by John Rutter was first performed in New York in 1990, a performance conducted by the composer himself.

Since then it has become one of the most frequently performed large-scale choral works. Magnificat is in seven movements, each movement explores a different musical style, from medieval chant to Latin American rhythms. The choral texture is greatly enhanced with the addition of a soprano soloist, Elaine Wogan, and pianist, Leon Gray.