John Rutter Requiem and Haydn Harmoniemesse

Grove Park Music Festival event at St Paul's Church

As part of the Grove Park Music Festival there will be a performance of the John Rutter Requiem and Haydn Harmoniemesse at St. Paul's Church, Grove Park on Saturday 4th October - 7:30pm.

Brian Kay conducts soloists Julie Kennard, Jeanette Ager, Richard Dowling, Michael George, the Brandenburg Orchestra and The Grove Park Festival Chorus.

The Requiem by John Rutter is a musical setting of an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, completed in 1985. The setting utilises a choir with an orchestral accompaniment, along with a soprano soloist. The Requiem was first performed on 13 October 1985 at Lovers' Lane United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas conducted by the composer. The Lord is my Shepherd was originally written in 1976 as a separate anthem.

The Harmoniemesse in B-flat major by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was written in 1802, when Haydn was 70, after he had completed his symphonies and oratorios. It is his last completed work and is one of Six Late Masses he created for his Patron, the Esterhazy Prince Nikolaus II. The word Harmonie is the German word for a form of wind ensemble, so in English the title of the mass is “Wind-Band Mass”. At the time, Haydn was one of the most famous and esteemed composers in Europe and this is one of the Six Late Masses which are the apotheosis of Haydn’s skill as a composer. Besides flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in B-flat, 2 trumpets in B-flat, the mass also calls for choir, timpani, strings and organ, the latter supplying figured bass for most of the duration. The setting is divided into six movements - Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei.

Tickets are : £20/16/10. Book online.


September 26, 2014