Richard Edgar-Wilson

Peter Savidge

NOTTINGHAM HARMONIC CHOIR

ORCHESTRA DA CAMERA

Conductor – Neil Page

SCHOLA CANTORUM

Conductor – John Keys

Benjamin Britten was a committed pacifist. The pity and waste of war was what he intended to portray in this piece. It weaves the words of the Requiem Mass with the famous poems of one of the great World War I poets: Wilfred Owen, who wrote of what he experienced first hand in the trenches. The effect is staggering and thought provoking.

The work calls for massive choral and orchestral forces. Two completely separate groups of performers are required, one large and one much smaller with its own chamber choir. On this occasion the Nottingham Harmonic Choir will be joined by the Schola Cantorum of St Barnabas Cathedral.

‘We will remember them’….

Organ continuo – John Keys

Conductor – Neil Page

NOTTINGHAM HARMONIC CHOIR

Handel’s inspired Messiah, written in only 21 days, also looks forward to Christmas, telling the story of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection, through prophetic, narrative and explanatory extracts from the Bible.

Although Messiah is the work by which most people in the world know Handel, it is almost a misfit in his output. He was not generally a religious composer and was not employed as a church musician, but rather wrote operas and music for royal occasions. His oratorios appear to be simply operas with religious themes, which at the time in England, were not allowed to be staged nor acted. They could
only be performed in a church, not in a theatre.

Handel’s operatic techniques are apparent in Messiah. The choir plays parts ranging from a vituperative mob hurling insults round the Cross to a choir of Angels singing of Jesus’ birth and praising Him in Heaven.

Many of the soloists’ arias are familiar and well-loved, but they make even more impact in the context of the whole work.

If you have never heard the whole of Messiah before, or have only heard versions which are heavily cut and there is no sense of continuity, come and be prepared for a totally different, thrilling, emotional experience!

The Thoresby Colliery Band is one of the most exciting brass bands in Europe, and regularly wins countless accolades for its inspirational playing. Even if you think you don’t like brass
bands, this one will convert you. Over the years they have played pieces ranging from Frosty the Snowman to Rossini’s William Tell Overture ,
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Wagner’s Procession to the Minster.
If you get seats close enough to watch their percussion section, it is an amazing sight and sound.

When not joining forces with the band, or leading the audience in some of the familiar Christmas Carols, the choir provides some quieter interludes with some beautiful, though perhaps less familiar, carol settings.

There is always an opportunity for all the children to come down to the stage to sing carols. Some of them, if they are the first to answer a question, or sing really well, will get the chance to conduct the band or choir.

You are guaranteed to go home from this concert with a warm glow inside and a feeling of the fun of Christmas.

The Mass in C is an enduring favourite, with the choir and soloists interweaving
in all movements. The Choral Fantasia may be less familiar. It is effectively a
single-movement piano concerto with a choral finale highly reminiscent of the Choral Symphony.

It opens in the style of a climactic, dramatic Piano Sonata, but after a few minutes the orchestra enters giving more of a Concerto feel to the piece. At its climax Beethoven adds a choral part to finish off the whole work with style.