Celestial Art - An 80th Birthday celebration of Edward higginbottom
Hail! Bright Cecilia Henry Purcell
Dies Irae Michel-Richard de Lalande
My Heart is Inditing George Frideric Handel
Instruments of Time & Truth
Oxford Consort of Voices
Conducted by Edward Higginbottom
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
The, High St, Oxford OX1 4BJ
About this programme
Saturday 21 November draws together several strands. One of them is the 300th anniversary of the death of the great French composer Michel-Richard de Lalande. His setting of Dies irae was composed in 1690 for the funeral rites of the French Dauphine. The Dies irae text resonates with our November commemorations of All Souls and Armistice. Then, 21 November being the eve of St Cecilia’s Day, we will perform Henry Purcell’s peerless ode, Hail! Bright Cecilia, first performed in 1692. These two works, very close in time, evoke a high-water mark in French and English baroque traditions. They also reveal the very different musical manners between the traditions. Added to the mix is a rather more modest celebration, that of Edward Higginbottom’s 80 years. The evening ends with the last of Handel’s magnificent coronation anthems, My heart is inditing of a good matter.
As befits a celebratory occasion, the performers will be numerous and accomplished: 14 soloists from the Oxford Concert of Voices, a large ensemble drawn from Instruments of Time & Truth (strings, oboes, flutes, bassoon, lute, trumpets, drums), with additional ripienists in the Handel chorus.
The concert has been made possible through the generosity of friends and donors associated with IT&T.
Tickets
Seating Chart
Please note, some seats in Boxes, Gallery Left and Gallery Right have a restricted view.
