Saturday 12th May 2012, Johann Sebastian Bach : St. Matthew Passion
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Bach's Passion continues to move audiences more than 280 years after it was first heard in St. Thomas's Church in Leipzig,
Germany. Standing as one of the pillars of Western sacred music, it is at once monumental and intimate, deeply sorrowful and powerful.
It retells the dramatic and compelling story of the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Bach divided the music into two parts. Highlights of part one include the last supper and the betrayal and arrest of
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
In part two, the music turns darker and softer—signalling the inevitability of the story—as it depicts the trial,
crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The Passion ends with the darkly textured chorus, "In tears of grief."
Bach could leave his parishioners in a sorrowful mood, knowing that they'd be celebrating Christ's resurrection in just a few days.
Tom Huizenga
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10th December 2011, Karl Jenkins : Stella Natalis
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Karl Jenkins has composed Stella natalis, as a gift to music lovers of all stylistic and spiritual
backgrounds. Stella natalis means ‘star of birth’ or ‘star of origin,’ and the music conveys
the Christmas message of peace, goodwill, compassion and a new beginning whilst using a
wider palette of inspiration than is usual in such treatments: Zulu text, reference to Hindu gods,
as well as the Old Testament, all make an appearance! The libretto, for the most part, is by
Carol Barratt together with some established text in Latin and English.
Karl Jenkins
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May 14th 2011, Puccini : Messa di Gloria (Messa a quattro voci)
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Puccini composed the Mass as his graduation exercise from the Istituto Musicale Pacini.
It had its first performance in Lucca on July 12, 1880. However, the Credo had already
been written and performed in 1878 and was initially conceived by Puccini as a self-contained
work. Puccini never published the full manuscript of the Messa, and although well received
at the time, it was not performed again until 1952 (first in Chicago and then in Naples).
However, he re-used some of its themes in other works, such as the Agnus Dei in his opera
Manon Lescaut and the Kyrie in Edgar.
Wikipedia
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4th December 2010
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 – 1958) : Hodie - A Christmas Cantata0
Vaughan Williams's Christmas Cantata Hodie (This Day) is a brilliant mosaic of musical styles set to poetry
from the most diverse sources. Texts by Milton, Hardy and George Herbert reflecting various Christmas experiences
are bound together by a naration of the Gospel Nativity story. With its gripping blend of mysticism, heavenly glory
and human hope, Hodie flows with a vitality and inventiveness that belie a work written in Vaughan Williams's old age.
Naxos sleave notes
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| 12th June 2010 | Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 |
| 12th Dec 2009 | Mendelssohn Elijah |
| 16th May 2009 | Orff Carmina Burana |
| 6th Dec 2008 | Faure Requiem |
| 17th May 2008 | Mozart Requiem |
| 8th Dec 2007 | Britten Saint Nicolas Cantata |
May 19th and
Sep 30th 2007 | Karl Jenkins - The Armed Man, A Mass for Peace |
| Dec 9th 2006 | Verdi Requiem |
| May 13th 2006 | Handel Alexander's Feast |
| Dec 10th, 2005 | Handle's Messiah |
| June 11th, 2005 | Haydn, Horovitz (Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo) and Brahms |
| May 14th, 2005 | Haydn: The Nelson Mass
Charpentier: Te Deum |
| 11 Dec 2004 | Vivaldi: Gloria
Respighi: Lauda per la Nativita del Signore |
| 8 May 2004 | Brahms: Requiem |
| December 2003 | Bach Christmas Oratorio and popular Christmas music |
Past Concerts
This is just a small selection of
the music included in the concert programmes over the past few years:
- Mozart Colleredo Mass
- Britten Ode to St. Cecilia
- Duruflé Requiem
- Bernstein Chichester Psalms
- Barber Agnus Dei (Adagio)
- Bach St. Matthew Passion
- Verdi Requiem
- Rossini Petite Messe Solonelle
- Walton Belshazzar's Feast
- Britten St. Nicholas
- Handel Messiah
- Schubert Mass in E flat
- Pergolesi Magnificat
- Mozart Requiem
- Orff Carmina Burana
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