Ealing Choral Society Choral Music from Masters of the Classical Canon
Jonathan Williams conductor Rebecca Bottone and Rachel Nicholls soprano Nicholas Hurndall Smith tenor Chris Adams bass
Programme:
Haydn:Te Deum
Mozart: Great Mass in C minor
Mozart: Overture 'the Magic Flute'
Haydn: Alfred, Konig der Angelsachsen
Beethoven: Elegisher Gesang
Ealing Choral Society presents a concert of choral music from three great masters of the classical canon.
Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, composed in 1782, is one of the summits of the choral repertoire and perhaps the best-known and most widely performed of Mozart's choral works. It was composed as fulfilment of a vow to his wife that their marriage, after many difficulties, and after the birth of their first child, would again be wonderful. The music encompasses a range of human emotion in moving andantes, joyful allegros, and adagios of great depth.
Haydn’s Te Deum was commissioned by the Empress Marie Therese, the wife of Franz I of Austria. Its first recorded performance was in 1800 at Eisenstadt, the home of the Esterhazy family, to celebrate Lord Nelson's arrival there. It is considered to be one of Haydn's best short religious works.
Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang, was composed during the summer of 1814 in memory of Eleanore, the wife of Baron Johann von Pasqualati, who had died in childbirth three years earlier. Her music-loving husband was also incidentally the Empress Maria Therese's physician. Although the author of the text is unknown, it may have been the widower-Baron himself. It is a “Song of Mourning” capturing the pain of loss, most agonizing when it is senseless. It is rarely performed or even mentioned among Beethoven’s works—perhaps because the piece is short and the list of famous pieces by this iconic composer is long.
Other works in the concert are Mozart’s sparkling overture to The Magic Flute, and an aria for soprano by Haydn from his incidental music to Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, a tuneful piece, typical of late Haydn.
Please note: this concert is using a stage extension so the first row will be Row A
Tickets*:
£22, £16
Please note: Online booking is only available up to midnight on the day prior to the performance. On the day bookings via telephone and counters sales only.
Concessions*: Group discounts available
*Note: Certain ticket prices are currently only available via telephone.
