Exiles | Paragon Singers

Fresh from our stunning Messiah, Paragon Singers present a timely programme of music around the theme of loss, displacement and exile. Our earliest expression of these ideas come from William Byrd and Phillipe de Monte in the 16th century with settings of the poignant words ‘How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?’ Famous spirituals from Tippett’s ‘Child of our time’ remind us that much closer to our own time oppression continues to be a backdrop to some people’s lives. Paul Hindemith’s ‘Six Chansons’ is a gentle, pastoral response to his own exile from Nazi Germany, while in Britten’s ‘Advance Democracy’ we can hear the unmistakeable tramp of jackboots.