The Cloths of Heaven, settings of poems by William Butler Yeats, received its premiere at St Martin in the Fields on Sunday 22 September 2024 in a programme of music all by Michael Higgins.
Higgins – How can I keep from singing?
Higgins – My heart is like a singing bird
Higgins – He’s gone away (from Three American Songs)
Higgins – The Cloths of Heaven
St Martin’s Chamber Choir
Léonie Adams, cello
Rhiannon Crompton, piano
Olivia Tait, director
Michael’s May the road rise to meet you featured on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Sunday Worship’ on St Patrick’s Day broadcast from the National Cathedral of St Patrick in Dublin.
The BBC Symphony Chorus with pianist Michael Higgins survey the world and its seasons through Jonathan Dove’s virtuosic cantata for double chorus The Passing of the Year and shorter pieces that take us through the seasons from Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Caroline Shaw and Reena Esmail. The concert begins with pieces that look at matters earthly and divine from Brahms, Michael Higgins and Sven-David Sandström. BBC Symphony Chorus Director Neil Ferris conducts this free performance.
Johannes Brahms Geistliches Lied
Michael Higgins See, I am God
Sven-David Sandström To see a World
Caroline Shaw And the swallow
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Summer is gone
Reena Esmail A Winter Breviary
Jonathan Dove The Passing of the Year
Michael Higgins piano
Neil Ferris conductor
BBC Symphony Chorus
