A Feast for Saint Cecilia at St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield on Sunday 17th November 2024

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

A Feast for Saint Cecilia

Add to my Calendar 17-11-2024 19:30 17-11-2024 21:30 36 A Feast for Saint Cecilia The combination of Dryden’s poetry and Handel’s music is a winning one. Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day delighted audiences at its première in 1739, showcasing, as it does, Soprano and Tenor soloists, and a virtuosic orchestra. Mayfield Baroque returns to St Dunstan’s, as do the glittering young singers Sofía Kirwan-Baez and Francis Melville. Dryden’s text cites trumpet, flute, organ, and violins, and Handel responds with a dazzling composition in praise of the patron saint of music. Never mind that Cecilia’s martyrdom in a steam room has been wrongly appropriated (steam is fed through pipes and organs have pipes): music needs a patron saint, and since the medieval period that role has fallen to St Cecilia.   This concert pairs Handel’s Cecilian Ode with a Mass setting by the Venetian Baroque composer Antonio Lotti. The St Christopher Mass has become famous because of its outstanding ‘Crucifixus’ section at its centre. The instruments drop out and the choir branches out into eight parts to sing one of the most sublime few minutes of choral music from any era. This performance places Lotti’s Crucifixus within the whole Mass setting – a rare event. Join us for this unmissable musical feast on the Sunday before St Cecilia’s Day. Would you like to sing with us? We would love to hear from anyone who has experience of choral music and is keen to be part of a friendly but ambitious choir. Contact the membership secretary through the website http://www.mayfieldfestivalchoir.org/join-the-choir St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St Dunstan's Church
High Street
Mayfield
East Sussex
TN20 6AB
England

Sunday 17th November 2024
7:30 PM

Programme

George Frideric Handel – Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, HWV 76
Antonio Lotti – Missa Sancti Christophori

Performers

Sofia Kirwan-Baez – soprano
Dee Benians – Alto
Francis Melville – tenor
Jeremy Summerly – Conductor

Mayfield Festival Choir
Mayfield Baroque Orchestra

Programme Note

The combination of Dryden’s poetry and Handel’s music is a winning one. Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day delighted audiences at its première in 1739, showcasing, as it does, Soprano and Tenor soloists, and a virtuosic orchestra. Mayfield Baroque returns to St Dunstan’s, as do the glittering young singers Sofía Kirwan-Baez and Francis Melville. Dryden’s text cites trumpet, flute, organ, and violins, and Handel responds with a dazzling composition in praise of the patron saint of music. Never mind that Cecilia’s martyrdom in a steam room has been wrongly appropriated (steam is fed through pipes and organs have pipes): music needs a patron saint, and since the medieval period that role has fallen to St Cecilia.

This concert pairs Handel’s Cecilian Ode with a Mass setting by the Venetian Baroque composer Antonio Lotti. The St Christopher Mass has become famous because of its outstanding ‘Crucifixus’ section at its centre. The instruments drop out and the choir branches out into eight parts to sing one of the most sublime few minutes of choral music from any era. This performance places Lotti’s Crucifixus within the whole Mass setting – a rare event. Join us for this unmissable musical feast on the Sunday before St Cecilia’s Day.

Would you like to sing with us? We would love to hear from anyone who has experience of choral music and is keen to be part of a friendly but ambitious choir. Contact the membership secretary through the website http://www.mayfieldfestivalchoir.org/join-the-choir

A stained glass window featuring Saint Cecilia with a pipe organ.

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