Dvořák Mass in D Major: plus other motets at St Anne's Church, London on Saturday 1st April 2023

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

Dvořák Mass in D Major

plus other motets

Add to my Calendar 01-04-2023 19:30 01-04-2023 21:30 36 Dvořák Mass in D Major Dvořák’s Mass in D was originally composed for organ and choir, without soloists, in 1887 at the request of Josef Hlávka, founder of the Czech academy of Arts and Sciences, for the consecration of a new private chapel. It was the first time he had composed a religious work on such a small scale, and the result pleased him enormously. His usual publishers, however, had different ideas, and in response to numerous rejections, Dvořák rescored the Mass in 1892 for a large-scale performance with full orchestra and soloists. The original didn’t resurface again until 1988, when it was finally published for the first time.   It is this version that the South West London Choral Society will be performing on Saturday 1st April in the beautiful setting of St. Anne’s Church, Wandsworth. There is no doubt that the music benefits from being heard as the composer first conceived it, conjuring beautiful pastoral images of rustic chapels in rural Czech idylls. What Dvořák creates with such modest forces is rather exquisite, and we are delighted to be presenting a rare opportunity to hear it in its original form.   The programme is completed by a selection of French motets that similarly create a beautiful sound far exceeding the sum of their parts, as well as a majestic setting of the Magnificat by the Society’s Music Director, Martin Everett.   Established in 1886, the South West London Choral Society is a professionally-led choir of amateur singers, bringing a variety of choral works, both famous and little-known, to the community of South West London. It is a welcoming choir, open to adults of all ages and backgrounds with an interest in rehearsing and performing choral music written by composers from Bach to Brahms, from Victoria to Vaughan Williams, from Mozart to Mendelssohn. The choir meets in Balham Baptist Church on Mondays at 7.30pm, and rehearses over the course of three terms per year, starting in September, January and April. If you would like to join us or give choral singing a try, then please feel free to come to one of our rehearsals at the start of term, or find out more information at www.swlcs.org.uk.   St Anne's Church, London DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Anne's Church
182 St Ann's Hill
Wandsworth
London
SW18 2RS
England

Saturday 1st April 2023
7:30 PM

Programme

Antonin Dvorak – Mass in D major, Op.86
Martin Everett – Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis
André Caplet – Messe a trios: O Salutaris Hostia
Maurice Duruflé – Notre Père, Op.14
Déodat de Séverac – Tantum ergo

Performers

Martin Everett – Conductor
Ben Lewis-Smith – organ

South West London Choral Society

Programme Note

Dvořák’s Mass in D was originally composed for organ and choir, without soloists, in 1887 at the request of Josef Hlávka, founder of the Czech academy of Arts and Sciences, for the consecration of a new private chapel. It was the first time he had composed a religious work on such a small scale, and the result pleased him enormously. His usual publishers, however, had different ideas, and in response to numerous rejections, Dvořák rescored the Mass in 1892 for a large-scale performance with full orchestra and soloists. The original didn’t resurface again until 1988, when it was finally published for the first time.

It is this version that the South West London Choral Society will be performing on Saturday 1st April in the beautiful setting of St. Anne’s Church, Wandsworth. There is no doubt that the music benefits from being heard as the composer first conceived it, conjuring beautiful pastoral images of rustic chapels in rural Czech idylls. What Dvořák creates with such modest forces is rather exquisite, and we are delighted to be presenting a rare opportunity to hear it in its original form.

The programme is completed by a selection of French motets that similarly create a beautiful sound far exceeding the sum of their parts, as well as a majestic setting of the Magnificat by the Society’s Music Director, Martin Everett.

Established in 1886, the South West London Choral Society is a professionally-led choir of amateur singers, bringing a variety of choral works, both famous and little-known, to the community of South West London. It is a welcoming choir, open to adults of all ages and backgrounds with an interest in rehearsing and performing choral music written by composers from Bach to Brahms, from Victoria to Vaughan Williams, from Mozart to Mendelssohn. The choir meets in Balham Baptist Church on Mondays at 7.30pm, and rehearses over the course of three terms per year, starting in September, January and April. If you would like to join us or give choral singing a try, then please feel free to come to one of our rehearsals at the start of term, or find out more information at www.swlcs.org.uk.

Your events at Classical Events