The Dual Alliance - Music from France and Russia | Ashtead Choral Society

Ashtead Choral Society present a varied selection of choral music from the dual alliance of France and Russia.

From Fauré's Requiem to Rachmaninov's Vespers, together with motets by Debussy and Poulenc - we present a varied programme for you to enjoy. The composers whose music features in the programme cover an extraordinary period for both France and Russia - from the opulence of the late 19th century, through the turbulent years of the twentieth century to the post war period. It features in excerpts from Fauré' s Requiem some of the best known music of the period. Meanwhile, the breadth of the events of this period for France and Russia is perhaps caught in the context of the works - from Fauré' s Cantique de Jean Racine written when Fauré was still in education in Napoleon III's French Empire through to works such as Rachmaninov's Vespers of 1915, which has been seen as the final flourish of Imperial Russian Church music before the Revolution, concluding with Poulenc's Christmas Motets, written in the peace after the Second World War.

The Society will be conducted by James Henshaw, our Musical Director, and Chorus Master of the English National Opera.

Ashtead Choral is a Choral Society, based in Ashtead, Surrey, which covers all types of choral music, from baroque to jazz via oratorio and classical. It was founded in 1949 and continues to flourish today.