As part of FSA United’s annual joint Good Friday service with Metropolitan United, the choirs will be performing Howard Goodall’s requiem, Eternal Light. Sonja will be featured as soprano soloist alongside baritone soloist Alistair Smyth with an instrumental ensemble.

Commissioned in 2008, Goodall’s requiem has received countless performances since then, making it his most popular choral composition. Written to mark the 20th anniversary of the ensemble London Musici, this unorthodox and unusual interpretation of the Requiem, was also envisaged as a dance piece for the Rambert Dance Company. Traditionally a prayer for the salvation of the departed soul, Howard’s requiem centres on those who are left behind to grieve. His intention is to seek out the healing power of music, to create a sense of solace whilst acknowledging the unbearable loss and emptiness which comes with the death of someone close, in the hope that musical expression can provide space for reflection and maybe even some comfort. Howard describes Eternal Light as a Requiem for the living, using poetry readings and hymns alongside the more familiar text of the mass, to focus on interrupted lives. Uniquely in contemporary classical music, Howard Goodall is able to compose music which is both original and accessible, and with Eternal Light, he’s achieved a work with a powerful personal connection which has ensured its continued potency and popularity.