Sofi Jeannin conducts Weir, Tüür and Messiaen

The BBC Singers travel the foothills of Peru, the open skies of Estonia and the unspecified blue hills of a significant world premiere in this concert under Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin, which pivots on Messiaen’s songs of love Cinq Rechants. The French composer was inspired by the vocalizations of the Peruvian Harawi in writing his piece, which alternates urgent calls with sensuous contemplation realized in a harmonic wash of sound.

It is surrounded here by the natural world: Estonian Erkki-Sven Tüür’s humbling song in awe of nature and BBC Singers Composer in Association and Master of the Queen’s Music Judith Weir’s major new work for mixed choir and string quartet, blue hills beyond blue hills.