DESCRIPTION:
Sonnet XVIII
That God forbid, that made me first your slave,
I should in thought control your times of pleasure,
Or at your hand th' account of hours to crave,
Being your vassal, bound to stay your leisure!
O, let me suffer (being at your beck),
Th' imprison'd absence of your liberty;
And patience, tame to sufferance, bide each check,
Without accusing you of injury.
Be where you list, your charter is so strong
That you yourself may privilege your time
To what you will; to you it doth belong
Yourself to pardon of self-doing crime.
I am to wait, though waiting so be hell;
Not blame your pleasure, be it ill or well.

On Friday the 15th November 2013 Curated Place and the South Iceland Chamber Choir presented a concert at Southwark Cathedral that brought an evening of world premieres to London. Alongside a programme of Tavener's music the programme included work from young Icelandic composers, including Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Rós fame, and British star Jack White's new work "Islands (Ynysoedd)" produced through our residency programme "Collaborative Compositions" with Sound and Music and Arts Council England.

The Three Shakespeare Sonnets came to serve as an emotional memorial to the composer Sir John Tavener.

Celebrating landscape and literature in Shakespeare's own place of worship the concert took on enormous significance following the death of Tavener in the week preceding.

With the death of Sir John Tavener the choir lost one of its most captivating voices. Planned months in advance of the composers passing in November 2013 the South Iceland Chamber Choir performed the world premiere of a work dedicated to the group which the composer credited with restoring his musical inspiration after previous ill health.