Brother Sun, Sister Moon - Baroque Voices

New works with astrological and elemental themes, written in the last decade, by sibling composers Pepe Becker and Mark Smythe.

In similar vein to the annual Baroque Voices "Alleluia: a newe work!" concerts (which will resume from next year), this programme includes works of a timeless, contemplative nature, drawing on themes of duality: love/loss, birth/death, intimacy/distance, the old and the new. An astrological sub-theme also emerges, as several works have Zodiac Sigh titles and/or contain references to Sun, Moon or stars. The concert title itself, "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" (as well as being the title of a Franco Zeffirelli movie about St Francis of Assisi), refers to the Greek god Apollo (god of the Sun, healing, plague and music) and his sister Artemis (goddess of the Moon, hunting, childbirth and virginity). Many of these pieces draw on ancient texts of ideas, though they have all been written since the turn of this century.