www.somersetchamberchoir.org.uk  © 2011 Somerset Chamber Choir  Registered Charity No.1003687  

Patrons: Dame Emma Kirkby and Sir David Willcocks

Sign up for concert updates
Enter your email address here to receive concert details by email

Next Somerset Chamber Choir concert

Saturday 27 July 2013, 7pm

Wells Cathedral

Last Words

Mozart
Requiem
Ave verum corpus

James MacMillan
Seven Last Words from the Cross
In splendoribus sanctorum

’An inspiring and uplifting concert by the Somerset Chamber Choir’ WELLS JOURNAL
 

The right is reserved, without incurring liability, to substitute artists and to vary the programme for reasons beyond our control, although these details are correct at the time of publication.

Location of Wells Cathedral, Somerset, BA5 2UE

Inside Wells Cathedral
Image courtesy www.flickr.com/photos/swampdragon/

Click on artist name to read more about them

Click to view concert flyer
or right-click and ‘save target (or link) as’ to save

Somerset Chamber Choir

Ruby Hughes  soprano

Helen Sherman  mezzo-soprano

Andrew Tortise  tenor

Callum Thorpe  bass

Southern Sinfonia

Graham Caldbeck  conductor

Book online

*

Two of Mozart’s last and most famous compositions – the magnificent Requiem and the intimate motet Ave verum corpus – are set alongside beautiful and affecting works by James MacMillan – the motet In splendoribus sanctorum and what many consider to be his masterpiece - Seven Last Words from the Cross. This stimulating mix creates a satisfyingly rich programme.

The compelling story of Mozart’s Requiem has everything: a strange commission from a courtly intermediary on behalf of the pretentious Count von Walsegg, so that he could pass it off as his own to commemorate the death of his wife; the young composer of genius making his first setting of the Requiem Mass, and finding an absolutely original voice to do so; his tragically early death at the age of 35, leaving the work unfinished. Mozart died after writing only eight bars of the Lacrimosa, poignantly describing ‘that day of tears and mourning.’ The Requiem was later completed by his contemporary, Süssmayer, using the composer’s sketches.

The traditional text of the Seven Last Words from the Cross - a liturgical sequence of the last seven utterances by Christ - was set by James MacMillan in response to a 1993 BBC TV commission, and screened in seven nightly episodes during Holy Week in 1994. This dramatic work, scored for choir and string orchestra, possesses an intense spiritual power and combines a striking evocation of the context of Jesus’s words with a sublime meditation upon them, additionally using texts from the Good Friday liturgy. References to plainsong and to Victoria, Gesualdo and Bach mingle with MacMillan’s contemporary style in vivid music of desolate, dignified beauty and serenity.

MacMillan’s motet In splendoribus sanctorum for solo trumpet and choir features expressive, flamboyant flourishes on the trumpet over a sequence of different versions of a traditional Christmas plainsong – exciting sounds ideally suited to the acoustic of Wells Cathedral.

This promises to be a moving and unforgettable concert in the stunning setting of Wells Cathedral. Reserve your tickets today:

___________________________________________________

Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem

James MacMillan’s
In splendoribus sanctorum

James MacMillan talks about his
Seven Last Words from the Cross

Book online

*