November concert
Saturday 23rd November, 7.30pm at Brecon Cathedral
Crickhowell Choral Society with the Brecknock Sinfonia present:
Schubert: Mass in A flat
Mendelssohn: Singet dem Herrn (Sing unto the Lord)
Haydn: Insanae et vanae
Never mind gloomy November, Brecon Cathedral will soon be filled with a glorious feast of choral classics by Schubert, Mendelssohn and Haydn encompassing the realms of transcendent beauty and high drama.
While Schubert apparently never heard it performed, he believed his setting of the Mass in A flat to be his finest work. The result of his “extended labours”, it was composed and revised over some seven years from 1818 and was no doubt intended to vindicate his mastery of sacred musical idioms. Although ignored in the composer’s own lifetime, it has come to be regarded as a truly remarkable work, full of radiant tunefulness and deep emotion at every turn.
The programme also features a rousing and rarely heard Psalm setting for double choir and soloists by Mendelssohn, Singet dem Herrn, an iridescent piece composed to inaugurate the composer’s appointment as musical director at Berlin Cathedral in 1844. This is a real choral tour de force, the psalm’s ecstatic words cast in the great Handelian oratorio tradition.
By contrast, Haydn’s short motet, Insanae et vanae curae, is a highly-charged stand-alone piece derived from the composer’s first oratorio “The Return of Tobias”; it has long been a firm favourite with choirs.
We are delighted to be collaborating again with the Brecknock Sinfonia for this project and are very much looking forward to hearing these great pieces reverberate around the Cathedral’s glorious space. Do join us for this sonic journey!
Tickets!
Tickets cost £15 (£15.50 if you buy online). Entry is free for students and under 18s.
Click here to buy your tickets online.
Or they’re available from Webbs of Crickhowell, from choir members, and at the door on the night of the concert.
You can also call 07816 991501 or email tickets@