Continuum - Britten and Beyond

One of the UK's leading professional choirs, Continuum was founded in 2019 by Artistic Director, Harry Guthrie. The ensemble, no stranger to St Mary's Amersham, comprises some of the UK’s most accomplished young singers and is highly in demand in venues all over the UK.

Their new programme, Britten and Beyond, marks half a century since the death of Benjamin Britten and offers audiences a rare chance to experience the living continuity of English choral music. At its heart are two world premieres from Ben Parry and Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, two of the country’s leading choral composers, whose new works speak directly to Britten’s legacy while standing firmly in the present. 
Alongside these new commissions, audiences will encounter some of Britten’s most iconic works, including A Hymn to the Virgin, A Hymn to St Cecilia and Sacred and Profane. Heard together, the premieres and the classics form a direct musical conversation across generations. The result is a programme that not only honours Britten’s legacy but actively renews it, offering a forward‑looking concert experience.

Programme:

First Half - Composers who shaped Britten’s transformative choral voice:

● Henry Purcell – Hear my prayer
● Henry Purcell - Remember, not Lord our offences
● Benjamin Britten - Deus in adjutorium meum
● Imogen Holst - A Hymne to Christ
● Frank Bridge – Music when soft voices die
● John Ireland - The Hills
● Maurice Ravel - Trois Chansons
● Benjamin Britten - Sacred and Profane

Second Half - New voices in conversation: 

● Benjamin Britten - A Hymn to the Virgin
● Ben Parry - Aldeburgh Carol
● Benjamin Britten - Five Flower Songs
● Joanna Forbes L’Estrange – Like a Rose (new commission: a sixth Flower Song)
● Ben Parry - A Hymn to St Cecilia (new commission)
● Benjamin Britten – A Hymn to St Cecilia