Current Season

Autumn 2011

Tuesday 27 September 2011, 7.30pm
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, SE1

War and Peace

Haydn – Mass in Time of War
Vaughan Williams – Dona Nobis Pacem

We open the new season with two works composed in the shadow of approaching war. The Mass in Time of War (Haydn's own title) was written in 1796 as Napoleon was advancing on Vienna. It is one of his finest compositions, symphonic in scale and richly devotional in spirit. Vaughan Williams composed his profoundly moving cantata in 1936 to words taken principally from the Bible and the poems of Walt Whitman. The martial sounds of trumpets and drums feature prominently in both works and each ends with the heartfelt plea 'Dona nobis pacem: Grant us peace.'

Also taking part in the concert are City of London Sinfonia and soloists Helen Meyerhoff, Jeanette Ager, Nathan Vale and Colin Campbell.

This concert repeats the programme from the joint performance with the Augsburg Basilica Choir which was given in July as part of the Augsburg Peace Festival.

Tickets £10, £15, £20, £25, £30 from Southbank Centre Box Office 0844 847 9910 (booking fees apply)

Christmas 2011

Saturday 3 December 2011
St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, WC2

with organist James Longford

4.00pm: Family Christmas Carols

7.30pm: Advent Carols by Candlelight

Wednesday 14 December 2011, 7.30pm
Cadogan Hall, Sloane Terrace, SW1

Handel: Messiah

Erica Eloff soprano
Christopher Lowrey counter tenor
James Geer tenor
Giles Underwood bass
and Counterpoint period instrument ensemble

Messiah was composed in a fever of creative inspiration in about three weeks and had its premiere in Dublin in 1742. It soon became the best-loved of all Handel's sacred oratorios and today receives countless performances every year all over the world. This will be the first time that the choir has sung Messiah with Mark Forkgen, whose interpretation will highlight the dramatic qualities of this endlessly rich score.

Spring 2012

Wednesday 7 March 2012, 7.30pm
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, SE1

Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius

Adrian Thompson tenor
Jennifer Johnston mezzo soprano
Brindley Sherratt bass
with Canticum and Southbank Sinfonia

First performed in 1900, Elgar's oratorio is based on a poem by Cardinal Newman which depicts the death of an old man and his soul's journey through the next world, supported by a guardian angel and encountering demons and angelic beings on his path to Judgment. Breaking with the conventions of Victorian choral writing, Elgar's music is imbued with dramatic intensity and expressiveness and the work was soon recognised as a choral masterpiece.

Tickets £30, £25, £20, £16, £12, £8
Box Office: www.southbankcentre.co.uk or (0844) 847 9910