VOX CAPE TOWN PRESENTS
THE PLACE OF THE STARS
LIVE FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY
This live EP is dedicated to the memory of the late Martin Watt.
For the full experience, we recommend listening with good headphones or a quality sound system! If streaming music isn’t easy for you, or if you or someone you love would prefer a physical disc, please do get in touch. Making our music accessible to all is deeply important for us!
As autumn settles around us, we mark the culmination of ‘EquiVOX’ with the release of our live recordings from the South African Astronomical Observatory—music that spanned the centuries and catapulted us to the stars on the winter solstice of our tenth-anniversary year!
Across seven luminous tracks, our EP (‘extended play’) offers space to pause from the clamour of everyday life. Close your eyes for the celestial stillness of Ola Gjeilo, the soaring imagination of composer-astronomer William Herschel and the timeless serenity of Immortal Bach… At the heart of our programme is the world premiere recording of the late Martin Watt’s Missa Desolata composed in memory of Peter Klatzow. It was Peter’s appreciation for indigenous cosmologies that inspired us to acknowledge the Khoe in the naming of these recitals; they were the first to behold the heavens from that sacred space in what we now call Observatory, naming it |gamirodi !khaes—The Place of the Stars.
TRACK LISTING: The Place of the Stars (2026)
[1] The Spheres – Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978, Norway)
[2] Te Deum – William Herschel (1738–1822, Britain)
[3] *Kyrie from Missa Desolata – Martin Watt (1970–2025, South Africa)
[4] *Sanctus from Missa Desolata – Martin Watt
[5] *Agnus Dei from Missa Desolata – Martin Watt
[6] *Lacrimosa from Missa Desolata – Martin Watt
[7] Immortal Bach – JS Bach (1685–1750, Germany) reimagined by Knut Nystedt (1915–2014, Norway)
* World premiere performance/recording
VOX Cape Town directed by John Woodland
Recorded in the McClean Dome at the South African Astronomical Observatory (21 June 2025)
Recording produced by Nolan Chiat
Artwork: Vera Vuković
© VOX Cape Town MMXXVI
Soprano: Erin Cederlind, Lia Hall, Sally Hofmeyr, Carelize Klopper, Fran Laenen, Maryanne McLachlan, Kirsten Rowe, Anna Telford
Alto: Samantha Ash, Suzie Cameron, Tessa Gawith, Christina Goodall, Xoli Mabombo-Benson, Jennifer Matlock, Sarah McArthur, Anthea van Wieringen, Jean Westwood, Karin-Marie Wilson
Tenor: Matt Beck, Dane Bezuidenhout, Dirk Binneman, Peter Borchers, Casey Driver, Renugan Raidoo, Bevan Timm
Bass: Chris Arnold, Jan Buys, Wim Greyvenstein, Aaron Juritz, Kyle Paulssen, Louis Swart, Stefan van der Westhuizen
We thank LandoByte (Pty) Ltd for generously sponsoring the production costs of this EP