Man of the World

Though many may think of John Rutter as being the most British of choral composers and conductors, his huge popularity in fact spreads right across the globe,

- Andrew Green

Choral singers and their music directors around the UK will be raising brimful glasses on 24 September in celebration of Sir John Rutter's 80th birthday. His music is, after all, buried deep in the musical fabric of the country. Entirely appropriate that Sir John's big birthday bash in the UK (a touch late, on 5 November) takes place at an iconic national venue - the vast spaces of St Paul's Cathedral, with the composer himself conducting The Bach Choir and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Rutter's own extended works The Gift of Life and I'll make me a world - the latter, a first concert performance.

Talking of 'making me a world', I've long been aware that Sir John has a huge following in the US. (The Gift of Life is one of many works with an American inspiration – in this instance, written for a performance in Dallas). What I hadn't anywhere near appreciated before talking with Rutter for this piece was the full global reach of his music. Even a cursory internet search confirms it, in terms merely of recent and future performances, of which more below. Rutter's publisher, Oxford University Press (OUP), tells me that choral works by him have been translated into no fewer than 17 languages – the more unexpected, perhaps, being Korean, Japanese, Lithuanian, Romanian and Icelandic.