Concert Archive

The main work in this, the second of our special concerts celebrating the tenth anniversary of the re-founding of the Gabrieli Choir, is the Hungarian première of the exquisite In Terra Pax by Gerald Finzi (1901-1956). Subtitled A Christmas Scene, it is scored for soprano and baritone soloists, mixed choir and small orchestra, and sets familiar words from St. Luke's Gospel with poetry by Robert Bridges (1844-1930). To quote the tenor Mark Padmore in a 2011 article in The Guardian, Finzi was a composer “whose plumage is discreet and whose song is quiet and subtle; [...] one of classical music's wrens”; the lyrical, elegiacal In Terra Pax is arguably his most quintessentially English composition: so are these the reasons it has (at least according to the publisher) never before been performed in Hungary? The programme opens with the jaunty St. Paul's Suite for string orchestra by Gustav Holst, continues with a generous selection of shorter Christmas pieces by composers such as Paul Manz, Carl Rütti, Mykola Leontovych and John Rutter - in this part of the concert the choir will be accompanied on the organ by László Attila Almásy and conducted by Richard Sólyom - and, after the Finzi, it will conclude with a rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful with the audience joining in (carol sheet will be provided!).  We are delighted to be joined for this concert by the Concerto Chamber Orchestra, soloists Edit Szappanos and Péter Kovács, and conductor Miklós Cser. 

A bilingual, 28-page programme booklet will be available at the concert.  Admission is free, although donations will be gratefully accepted.  Audience members are invited to join the performers for a short informal reception in the church after the concert.

Programme:

Gustav Holst (1874-1934): Saint Paul's Suite
Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876): Once in Royal David’s City
Francisco Guerrero (1528-1599): Canite Tuba
Paul Manz (1919-2009): E'en So, Lord Jesus
Gustav Holst: In the Bleak Mid-Winter
Carl Rütti (1949- ): I Wonder as I Wander
John Donne (1572-1631) – Nativity (verse)
Anonymous: Coventry Carol
William Mathias (1934-1992): A Babe is Born
Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921): Carol of the Bells
John Rutter (1945- ): All Bells in Paradise
Gerald Finzi (1901-1956): In Terra Pax
John Francis Wade (c.1711-1786): O Come All Ye Faithful

Click here to  download the brocuhure.