September Baroque 2015
More Info
Our programme was centred around two Baroque choral masterpieces. We were delighted to welcome back Cathedral Strings who last performed with us when we sang Handel's Messiah at St. John's Church in December 2013 to celebrate our thirtieth anniversary. We were again joined by organist Sachin Gunga.
Handel's Dixit Dominus is widely acknowledged as one of his finest choral works. Written in Rome in 1707 when he was only twenty-two it was probably first performed at the Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto. Using the Latin text from Psalm 110, Dixit Dominus is set to music of exceptional brilliance. Written in eight movements and scored for five-part chorus, soloists, strings and continuo, the music is a showpiece for singers and players alike and the demands on the choir are exceptional. There are many dramatic contrasts between the sections. The choir sing an energetic opening chorus and, following six movements of widely differing styles involving choir and soloists, the closing Gloria completes the work with a brilliant extended fugue sung by the choir.
J S Bach's surviving cantatas number in the hundreds while his motets are few and unique among his compositions. They display Bach's unrelenting virtuosity and diverse contrapuntal style. As requested by several choir members, we performed Jesu, meine Freude, one of Bach's best loved choral works. The longest and most complex of his six surviving motets as well as being the earliest, it was written for a funeral in 1723. The work comprises of eleven short movements arranged in a symmetrical musical structure, with the same setting of the main chorale tune in the first and last movements and an elaborate fugue in the sixth movement. Free settings of the chorale are included in other sections of the work.
The third piece in our concert was Splendente te, Deus by Mozart. This is regarded as the finest chorus from Thamos, King of Egypt, a heroic drama by von Gelber for which, between 1773 and 1780, Mozart wrote the incidental music. It is set for chorus, soloists and orchestra. Vincent Novello brought the music to British audiences after his 'Mozart Pilgrimage' to Europe in 1829 and, after publication of the score, Splendente te, Deus immediately became the most popular of the work's three choruses.
