Oxford Bach Choir - Rossini, Stabat Mater; Vaughan Williams, Serenade to Music; Mendelssohn, Hebrides Overture
Oxford Bach Choir & City of London Sinfonia, conducted by Benjamin Nicholas
Rossini’s great setting of the Stabat Mater, the mediaeval poem on the Virgin Mary contemplating her son on the cross, was criticised for being almost too operatic for religious settings.
Rossini writes magnificent and demanding arias and ensembles for the soloists, all enhanced by his melodic genius, and the Stabat Mater contains some tremendous choruses for the choir, culminating in the great fugue which triumphally ends the work.
The programme includes another work of early 19th century romanticism, Mendelssohn’s overture The Hebrides, inspired by his lifelong love of Scotland.
Finally, with Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music, a setting of words from The Merchant of Venice, we look towards our celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth later in the year, with one of his most sensuous, almost erotic, compositions.
Ticket Information
Full price: £15-£45
Concessions available and discounts for full-time students and U-18s. All ages welcome.
Doors open at 16:30 ready for a 17:00 start.
Duration: Circa 1 hour 45 minutes
or Call 01865 305305
