The Falcon

The Falcon was John’s first large-scale choral work. Written in 1969, when John Rutter was still a student, it was premiered in the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, under the baton of Sir David Willcocks. The kernel of the work is the medieval poem that gives it its title, a poem rich with symbols of the Eucharist, the Grail legend and the Glastonbury thorn.  Gregorian chant is used, sung by a boy’s choir.

Orchestration: 2 fl, 2 ob, 2 cl, 2 bn, 4 hn, 2 tpt, 2 tbn, btbn, tba, timp, 3 perc (SD, cym, tam, glock, sus cym, tbells, BD, tamb, xylo, vib, whip), hp, str