READING Haydn Choir will perform their spring concert to the accompaniment of a chamber orchestra.
Their programme will include music from composers whose work spans the 17th to 19th centuries.
Audiences will be able to hear Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum, Hummel’s Mass in B Flat, and Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir.
The earliest of the three is Claudio Monteverdi, whose lively and dramatic Baroque motet (a sacred multivoiced composition) Beatus Vir will be performed by the group.
Written around 1630, it uses pairs or small groups of singers, accompanied by the body of the choir to produce a characteristic Baroque sound through a technique known as stile concertato.
“We’ll also be performing two other works not often performed; Hummel’s Mass in B flat and Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum,” said choir member Antony Gordon.
George Frederich Handel, became a British citizen in 1727.
His Utrecht Te Deum was written to celebrate the Peace of Utricht, and was first performed in St Paul’s cathedral in 1713.
Austrian composer and pianist Johann Nepomuk Hummel was a pupil of Mozart, Salieri and Haydn.
His Mass in B Flat was commissioned by the influential House of Esterhazy, and is considered to be one of the most interesting and exciting choral compositions of its period.
Reading Haydn Choir, now in its 56th year, and made up of around 60 singers, has been rehearsing since January.
The spring concert, conducted by Mandy Kesel, with piano accompaniment from repetiteur Ian Westley, can be heard at St Joseph’s College, Reading.
The music starts on Saturday, March 14, at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £17 (£1 discount for advance sales), or £5 for under 19s.
For tickets and information, visit: haydnchoir.org.uk and ticketsource.co.uk (search for Reading Haydn Choir)
