Bach and Mozart, Friday, May 19th, 7:30pm
Peninsula United Church, Crescent Beach, Surrey
Thank you to our supporters. Our May 19th concert was a wonderful success, with a full house and many complimentary reviews. The Handel Chorus and Orchestra was on a journey of discovery, as they performed two of classical music's greatest "hidden gems".
These beautiful oratorios are inexplicably not often performed or recorded. This is likely due to their relatively short length (about 30 minutes) relative to Bach’s great Masterpieces such as the Easter Passions and Christmas oratorio. But they may also easily be lost among the 240 Cantatas Bach created. Nevertheless, they are among the finest of Bach's great creations.
These are wonderfully rich pieces calling upon musicians and singers to reach the highest peaks of performance.
Mozart's wonderfully elegant "Dixit et Magnificat" another example of an under appreciated work, was replaced with "Ave Verum Corpus" due to supply chain problems obtaining the "Magnificat" orchestral score in time for rehearsals. (More at Page Bottom)
TICKET PRICES
Regular – $25
Senior/Student – $20
Students under 16 are admitted free
About "Hidden Gems"
The Ascention Oratorio, (Cantata BWV 11)
This beautiful oratorio inexplicably is not often performed or recorded. This is likely due to its relatively short length (about 30 minutes) relative to Bach’s great Masterpieces such as the Easter Passions and Christmas oratorio. But it is also easily lost among the 240 Cantatas Bach created. We might call it a partially hidden gem.
This story of Jesus’ ascension into Heaven begins in a grand fashion with trumpets and drums leading the Alto aria Ach bleibe doch . We then hear more recitative by the Evangelist, leading to another aria, this time by the Soprano. And the work incorporates two beautiful chorals, finishing off with the grand style with which it opened.
We thank Thee, Lord (Cantata BWV 29)
Bach composed this sacred oratoria in Leipzig in 1731 for a festive church service marking the annual inauguration of a new town council. Bach scored the work in eight movements for four vocal parts and a festive Baroque orchestra. The organ dominates the first movement Sinfonia which Bach derived from a Partita for violin. The full orchestra accompanies the first choral movement and plays with the voices in the closing chorale, while a sequence of three arias alternating with two recitatives is scored intimately.Bach used the music from the choral movement for both the Gratias agimus tibi and Dona nobis pacem of his Mass in B minor. your customers raving about you on social media? Share their great stories to help turn potential customers into loyal ones.
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