Brahms and Rheinberger Concert

Harpenden Choral Society is delighted to present their summer concert which features Brahms’ Song of Destiny and Rheinberger’s Mass in Eb together with some shorter pieces including Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine, Franck’s Panis Angelicus and Bruckner’s Locus Iste. The concert will be conducted by the choir’s Musical Director, John Andrews, and accompanied by George Castle on the organ.

Schicksalslied – Song of Destiny – completed by Brahms in 1871, is one of his finest compositions. The first half, serene, beautiful, suffused with lush harmonies, depicting the world of the gods, gives way to a tempestuous, apocalyptic second half which represents the fate of humanity.

Josef Rheinberger’s Mass Op. 109 is an eight-part setting of the very highest quality, which leaves the listener wondering how it is that this music is not more widely known and performed. Composed in 1878, eight vocal lines, each as important melodically as the others, are woven contrapuntally into a work that is elegant and refined, beautiful and moving.

For more information visit http://www.harpendenchoralsociety.org/