O’Regan to attend the City Choir’s East Coast premiere of his Critical Mass at National Presbyterian Church on Sun. Nov. 8, and the reception to follow.
Composer Tarik O’Regan
“I thought it was a hoax!” That was composer Tarik O’Regan’s reaction to a Christmas Eve phone call in 2022 informing him that King Charles III wanted him to compose a piece for his coronation. But the call was genuine, and O’Regan’s Agnus Dei was performed at the 2023 coronation in Westminster Abbey as one part of a setting of the Mass, with each movement by a separate composer.
The Agnus Dei met with critical acclaim, and people urged O’Regan to expand it to a full Mass. He ultimately chose to reflect the collaborative nature of the coronation music by asking four longtime collaborators to each contribute text for a movement of what became Critical Mass, which receives its East Coast premiere on November 8 by the City Choir.
O’Regan described the composing process in an extended interview with City Choir Artistic Director Erin Freeman, as part of the latest installment of her “Musical Explorations” talks for City Choir supporters, on October 15. He said it can be hard to pin down the beginning of a creative project, and the creative process itself can be messy, with false starts and some ideas that are discarded along the way.
He noted that the roots of Critical Mass might be traced to the restoration of an iconic medieval stained-glass window in Lincoln Cathedral, the “Dean’s Eye” rose window, dating to the year 1220. His piece The Windows was performed at the 2006 unveiling of the restored window, catching the attention of then-Prince Charles, who was in attendance and delighted O’Regan with his in-depth understanding of both the cathedral architecture and the music being performed. Their conversation at that event gave rise years later to that Christmas Eve phone call.
The Dean’s Eye Window at Lincoln Cathedral, created more than 800 years ago.
O’Regan himself has roots that extend in many directions. Born in London to an Algerian mother and an English father of Irish descent, he spent some of his childhood in North Africa, and has held faculty positions at Trinity College (University of Cambridge), Columbia University, and Stanford University, among others. He now lives in San Francisco. His music incorporates influences ranging from Renaissance polyphony to North African music, early British rock, jazz, and minimalist music. His compositions are often rhythmically complex, with a wide range of percussion.
Accordingly, Freeman devoted a portion of her talk to describing the fifteen percussion instruments featured in Critical Mass, from the familiar (bass drum, marimba) to the less so (crotales, which sounds more like a breakfast item). And she closed her talk with a treat: a chance for the attendees to hear an archival recording of the City Choir singing Armando Bayolo’s lovely Cantar Marinero.
Please join us on Zoom for the next “Musical Exploration” on Thurs., Nov. 19, focusing on Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy. It’s a chance to delve deeper into the music that lifts our spirits, and also to help support the City Choir. For more information, click HERE.
And, of course, we hope to see you Sun., Nov. 8 at 5:00 pm at National Presbyterian Church for the East Coast premiere of Critical Mass, followed by a reception with Tarik O’Regan in attendance! For more information, click HERE.
Crotales, sometimes called antique cymbals, are tuned bronze disks about 4” in diameter, that have a bell-like tone, and can be struck with brass mallets or bowed with a bass bow.