Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi
19:30
Thu 26 Feb 2026
Milton Court Concert Hall
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Singers join the strings from the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Concert Orchestra, organist Iain Farrington and Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin for an emotive programme of music to touch the very heavens.
Enjoy the delicate flight of angels in works by Sir James MacMillan and Dame Judith Weir, and Caroline Shaw’s haunting To the Hands, which brings the sacred sounds of Grigorian chant to a piece about Jesus’ crucified hands.
At the heart of the concert is Herbert Howells’ powerful and intimate letter to grief. His soul-stirring Hymnus Paradisi, originally written as a response to the death of his 9-year-old son, Michael, premiered 12 years after its completion at the Three Choirs Festival in 1950, following encouragement from Vaughan Williams.