London Concert Choir – A Symphony of Psalms – 7.45pm
London Concert Choir begin their 65th Season with an evening of Psalms. The programme consists of:
Conductor - Mark Forkgen
Organ & Piano - Ben Markovic
Piano - Dominika Mak
Franck - Psalm 150 (in French)
Gabrieli - Jubilate Deo
Howells - Like as the Hart
Mendelssohn - Richte mich, Gott
Elgar - Give unto the Lord
INTERVAL
Kodaly - Psalm 114
Stravinsky - Symphony of Psalms
London Concert Choir present a concert of contrasting psalm settings by composers from the 17th to the 20th Centuries, illustrating the wide variety of themes in the Book of Psalms, from praise and celebration to thanksgiving, prayer, despair and hope.
Giovanni Gabrieli took verses from a number of psalms for his lively eight-part anthem Jubilate Deo (Be Joyful in the Lord). He probably wrote it for the Feast of the Ascension, celebrating the marriage of Venice to the sea. Mendelssohn’s Richte mich, Gott (Psalm 43: Judge me, O God) is also for eight parts, with the upper and lower voices often singing alternately. Like as the Hart Desireth the Waterbrooks, a ‘quietly intense’ arrangement by Herbert Howells of three verses from Psalm 42 expressing the psalmist’s longing for God, will be complemented by one of his Psalm Preludes for organ.
Elgar’s grand ceremonial anthem Give unto the Lord (Psalm 29) evokes a series of vivid images of the voice of the Lord ruling the natural world. Kodály’s simple setting of Psalm 114 tells how the mountains and hills jumped for joy when the Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt. Psalm 150, Praise ye the Lord, the very last in the Book of Psalms, is a fervent exhortation to praise God in music and dance. It was set by César Franck in bold, chromatic harmonies and also by Stravinsky in the final movement of his mystical and moving choral Symphony of Psalms.
Upcoming Events
London Oriana Choir – Path of Miracles –
Composer Joby Talbot’s acclaimed choral work, Path of Miracles, takes its inspiration from the famous ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago di Compostela in northern Spain, chronicling the 500-mile journey from the foot of the northern Pyrenees. Join London Oriana Choir, special guest singers from the award-winning, original commissioning ensemble Tenebrae and Dominic Ellis-Peckham for a truly memorable and dramatic performance of this unique choral masterpiece.
The Esterhazy Singers – Haydn’s St Nicholas Mass, and Holst’s The Cloud Messenger – 7pm
Haydn’s mass was dedicated to Nicolaus Esterhazy, his patron from whom we take our name, and in this performance it is paired with Holst’s little known choral masterpiece, considered by the composer one of his best works.
Doors open from 6:30pm for a 7pm performance. Tickets are £25, or £10 for under 25 year olds, and are available at the website below or on the door. Programmes will be available for purchase on the door for £2.
London Concert Choir – Howells Requiem & Stainer The Crucifixion – 7.30pm
in London Concert Choir for an evening of sacred music from two of the great English choral composers, in the perfect setting.
The understated beauty and emotion of Herbert Howells’ interwar Requiem offers the perfect foil for the reverent Victorian grandeur of John Stainer’s Passiontide oratorio, The Crucifixion.
Howells’ unaccompanied Requiem brings his unmistakable compositional voice and very personal interpretation to the Church’s liturgy for the dead. Composed in 1932, but unpublished until 1980, it provided the genesis of the more complex and widely acclaimed Hymnus Paradisi. With characteristic precision and clarity, Howells evokes loss, grief, reflection and redemption, blending elements of the Latin mass and The Book of Common Prayer.