A concert of wonderful music by Bach and Handel featuring 5 professional soloists and a Baroque orchestra of strings, woodwind, trumpets, harpsichord and timpani.
Handel Ode for St Cecilia’s Day
First performed on 22 November 1739, this stirring piece celebrates Saint Cecilia as the patron saint of music and musicians. The cantata’s text is a setting of a 1687 poem by John Dryden based on the Pythagorean theory of harmonia mundi, linking the movement and origin of the celestial bodies to music. The opening chorus, From harmony, from heavenly harmony, praises the power of music.
Bach Magnificat
This beautiful setting of the biblical canticle, Magnificat, was Bach’s first major liturgical composition on a Latin text. The canticle is Mary’s song of praise in recognition of the fulfilment of the Angel Gabriel’s prophecy that she would bear Jesus.
Soprano: Charlotte Bowden
Soprano: Eloise Irving
Countertenor: Tom Lilburn
Tenor: Sebastian Hill
Bass: Ben Watkins
Orchestra: Hampstead Chamber Orchestra
Directed by: George de Voil
Tickets: https://www.wokingham-choral-society.org.uk/AutumnConcert2025
