In the second post looking at some of the contemporary composers whose works we’ll be singing in our Advent and Christmas services, we take a quick look at Carl Rütti (b. 1949).
Rütti graduated in organ and piano performance from the Zürich Conservatorium in his native Switzerland, but it was a year of further studies in London in 1976 which brought him into contact with the English choral tradition, sparking his compositional career. His distinctive style, full of spikey harmonies and energetic rhythms, has become a regular feature in English church music.
His many choral works have been performed by ensembles such as the BBC Singers, the Choir of King’s College Chapel, by numerous Swiss choirs, as well as featured at the Proms.
His carol, ‘I wonder as I wander’ (1996/2000), which we are singing at our 6pm Christmas Eve service, has been included several times in the Kings’ Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, and his carol ‘De Virgine Maria’ was commissioned for the 2014 service. Rütti has also written oratorios, chamber music, and solo concerti, including three organ concerti.
He is organist at the Church of St Peter and Paul in Oberägeri, Canton Zug, Swizterland. The image is from the altarpiece of his church.
Source: https://www.ruettimusic.ch
Image: Master of the Oberägeri Altar – http://webcollection.landesmuseen.ch/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10974630
Leave a Reply