Songs of the Sea

The Melbourne Youth Chorale (formerly Berwick Youth Choir) and the Australian Boys Choir have been linked for many years – mostly through sharing music staff – but both groups are very excited to announce their first collaboration in concert.

Most of us are fascinated by the sea. Its danger, its vastness, its restlessness, its ever-changing colours have inspired artists, poets and composers for centuries. And the characters for whose adventures it provides the setting are just as fascinating.

The high tide mark is established by two major works – Charles Villiers Stanford’s Songs of the Sea and Michael Hurd’s Hip-Hip! Horatio – the latter a light-hearted scrutiny of the life of Admiral Lord Nelson, and the former a setting of five poems by Henry Newbolt exploring the adventures of Sir Francis Drake and his trusty mariners who saw off the Spanish Armada.

As guest artists, we are proud to welcome two founding members of Songmakers Australia, international pianist Andrea Katz and bass-baritone Nicholas Dinopoulos. Conductors will be Noel Ancell OAM and Simon Loveless. Not insubstantial eddies are provided by Matthew Orlovich’s Tides of Ocean, Veljo Tormis’s Incantatio Maris Aestuosi, a prayer to calm a stormy sea and Paul Jarman’s Volta do mar Largo and Let go the Long White Sails.