Following their outstanding performance of Verdi’s Requiem in March this year, the London Concert Choir return to Southbank Centre with Haydn’s Mass in Time of War and Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem.
Both works were composed in the shadow of approaching war. Mass in Time of War (Haydn’s own title) was written in 1796 as Napoleon was advancing on Vienna. It is one of his finest compositions, symphonic in scale and richly devotional in spirit. Vaughan Williams composed his profoundly moving cantata in 1936 to words taken principally from the Bible and the poems of Walt Whitman. The martial sounds of trumpets and drums feature prominently in both works and each ends with the heartfelt plea ‘Dona nobis pacem: Grant us peace.’
Here’s a clip from their performance of Requiem earlier in the year.
Hear the London Concert Choir at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on Tuesday 27 September 2011. Get tickets here.
Filed under: Queen Elizabeth Hall, Vocal | Tagged: choir, Choral, Classical, classical music, Haydn, London Concert Choir, Season 2011-2012, Southbank Centre, Vaughan Williams | Leave a Comment »
