Mozart's masterpiece | Profound performance from Plymouth Philharmonic Choir

The Minster Church of St Andrew, Plymouth Philharmonic Choir, together with four first class soloists and orchestra, are performing a concert consisting of works by both Mozart and Gustav Holst.

Profound and unfinished

Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, well known and much loved by classical audiences, is a profound and unfinished masterpiece that reflects the composer’s genius and the circumstances of its creation.

Mozart composed the Requiem in late1791, during a time when he was facing significant personal and health challenges. He was commissioned by Count von Walsegg to create the piece in memory of the count’s wife, who had died earlier that year. Mozart passed away on 5 December, the same year and before he could complete the work.

Responsibility

After Mozart’s death, his widow, Constanze, sought to have the Requiem completed to fulfil the original commission and to secure payment. The task fell to several of Mozart’s students, with Franz Xaver Süssmayr ultimately taking on the responsibility of completing the work.

Exsultate, jubilate

Mozart composed Exsultate, jubilate, his best-known solo motet, for the famous soprano castrato Venanzio Rauzzini. Mozart had come to know him in Milan, when the ducal court in that city hired Rauzzini to sing in the premiere of the young Mozart’s opera Lucio Silla. In the following year,1777, Rauzzini moved permanently to England and established himself in Bath, where he lived for the remainder of his life. Soprano soloist for the concert: Catherine Hamilton.

Poetic accompaniment

Gustav Holst Five Part Songs Op 12, composed around 1902–1903 for four-part choir, are a set of lyrical pieces composed to accompany works by several English poets. The works include “Dream Tryst” (Francis Thompson), “Ye Little Birds” (Thomas Heywood), “Her Eyes the Glow-worm Lend Thee” (Robert Herrick), “Now is the Month of Maying” (Anonymous), and “Come to Me” (Christina Rossetti). Our version of this work includes a newly completed orchestration by Musical Director Paul Foster.

Plymouth Philharmonic Choir will perform the works of Mozart and Gustav Holst pm Saturday 28 March at 7.30pm in Plymouth at the The Minster Church of St Andrew.

Further information, together with ticket prices and availability, can be found on the choir’s website or Facebook page and at wegottickets.com/event/681844