At its summer concert this year, The City of Leicester Singers will welcome singers from other choirs and musical societies to join with them in a ‘Come and Sing’ event. This will take place at the church of St. James the Greater, London Road, Leicester, on 16th June, 2012. Unlike many such events which focus on a single major work, this ‘Come and Sing’ will have as its theme “Great Choruses from Great Oratorios”, interspersed with solo contributions. The choruses have been chosen from the compilation made by Brian Kay and published by Novello, and provide a varied selection of the well known , as well as the less familiar.
The Handel choruses: “See the conqu’ring hero” from Judas Maccabaeus and “Hallelujah” from Messiah will provide the opening and finale to the concert, while the first half of the programme will include Bach’s peaceful “Sleep well” from St. John Passion; two beautiful and reflective choruses from Mozart’s Requiem – Lacrimosa and Hostias ; and a Mendelssohn selection – “He watching over Israel” from Elijah. The first half will conclude with the final glorious chorus from the second symphony Hymn of Praise.
The second half will begin with the first two choruses of Vivaldi’s Gloria and the duet (Laudamus te) for two sopranos. Haydn will then be represented by two contrasting choruses – “Dona nobis pacem”, the jubilant conclusion to the Harmoniemesse, and the delightful, lyrical opening chorus “Come, gentle Spring” from The Seasons. The final three choruses all look to the triumph of the resurrection: Beethoven’s “Hallelujah” from his only oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives; Fauré’s beautiful “In Paradisum” from Requiem, once described as a “lullaby of death” and Handel’s mighty “Hallelujah Chorus”.
This uplifting concert will be directed by Richard Archer, accompanied on the organ by Geoffrey Clarke, and will include solo and duet contributions from members of The City of Leicester Singers.