John Rutter

John Rutter (b. 1945) is a renowned English composer, conductor, and arranger, celebrated for his significant contribution to contemporary choral music. His accessible yet deeply expressive style has made his works fixtures in choirs around the world. Rutter’s musical journey began in London, where he was born, and was solidified by a profound immersion in the rich choral traditions of Cambridge, a path that would define his life's work.

Rutter's musical talents were evident early on. He received his education at Highgate School, where as a chorister he took part in the 1963 recording of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem under the composer’s baton—a significant experience that connected him to a major musical statement of the era. He later attended Clare College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar. His time there immersed him in the heritage of English church music and its centuries-old choral tradition. This experience proved to be a fertile ground for his own compositional development, and it was during this period that Rutter instinctively chose to pursue a lyrical, accessible style, deliberately turning away from the avant-garde musical trends of the 1960s. After his studies, he served as Director of Music at Clare College and later founded his own professional choir, the Cambridge Singers, in 1981, with which he has made numerous acclaimed recordings of both his own music and that of other composers.

Rutter’s compositional style is characterized by its melodic beauty, lyrical harmony, and rhythmic vitality. He draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, including English folk music, French Impressionism, and even popular music, which he combines with his deep knowledge of the classical choral canon. While his output includes a wide variety of works, from operas to orchestral pieces, he is most widely known for his anthems, carols, and larger-scale works for chorus and orchestra.

Among his most celebrated pieces is his Requiem (1985), an intimate and profoundly moving work for chorus, soprano solo, and orchestra. It was written in memory of his father and dedicated to his friend, choral conductor Mel Olson. Stylistically, the piece owes much to the contemplative tradition of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, but Rutter makes it his own by combining the traditional Latin text with English biblical verses, including Psalm 130 ("Out of the Deep") and Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my Shepherd"). The work is deliberately consolatory and lyrical, aimed at comforting the living rather than dramatic or grim in its depiction of death. Other large-scale works, such as the rhythmic and joyful Gloria (1974) and the lushly orchestrated Magnificat (1990), have similarly cemented his reputation as a master of the modern choral tradition.

Another of Rutters choral works is his collection of seven spirituals, Feel the Spirit. He was inspired by the singing of mezzo-soprano Melanie Marshall, and put together a collection of spirituals to fit to her personal style, arranged with orchestra and chorus. 

Feel the Spirit premiered in 1999 at the Cincinnati May Festival. It showcases Rutter's ability to blend his own signature style with the spirit of African-American spirituals, using the original melodies while adding his own sophisticated harmonic language and lush orchestral textures. Some reviewers laud the collection as being both classically elegant and authentically heartfelt. Others feel that Rutter's arrangements, with their lush orchestral scores and "pop-flavored" elements, strip the spirituals of their raw, historical context and emotional depth, and that the music was born from the suffering and resilience of enslaved people.

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