Krista Audere, winner of the Eric Ericson Award 2021, joins Chamber Choir Ireland as guest director for 'Of Love and Eternity'.

Exploring biblical and poetic texts on love and faith, the programme features sacred pieces by Nana Forte, Rhona Clarke, and Andris Dzentis. In Pierre Villette's best-known work, 'Hymne à la Vierge', he sets words by Roland Bouhéret, drawing on the early music he grew up performing, and combining it with textures and harmonies inherited from Messiaen and Poulenc.

Robert Schumann's sense of Romantic imagination shines through in his four pieces for two intertwining choruses, with texts by Friedrich Rückert, Joseph Christian von Zedlitz, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Using poetry from his home country, Peteris Vasks' introspectively evocative 'Silent Songs' express the poignant hope of the Latvian experience.

Jean Francaix's 'Troix poèmes de Paul Valéry' bring the words of the celebrated French symbolist poet to life; and Rudolf Escher's 'Songs of Love and Eternity' accentuate the dramatic imagery in five poems by Emily Dickinson.

Robert Schumann (Germany, 1810-1856)—Vier doppelchörige Gesänge, Op. 141
Pierre Villette (France, 1926-1998)—Hymne à la Vierge
Peteris Vasks (Latvia, b. 1946)—Silent Songs
Rhona Clarke (Ireland, b. 1958)—Regina Coeli
Jean Françaix (France, 1912-1997)—Troix poèmes de Paul Valéry
Nana Forte (Slovenia, b. 1981)—Miserere mei
Rudolf Escher (Netherlands, 1912-1980)—Songs of Love and Eternity
Andris Dzenītis (Latvia, b. 1978)—Pater Noster