About this Event
In the 1770s the towers, turrets and dome of Salzburg Cathedral resounded to the music of the ingenious young composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Impatient though he was to escape from his unappreciative employer Archbishop Colloredo and his overbearing father Leopold, he fulfilled their requirements in his Mass in D which joyously displays his relaxed use of both the traditional contrapuntal techniques of sacred music alongside the late eighteenth-century preference for charm and elegance.
Beatus vir is probably Monteverdi’s best-known work. Though its date of composition is unknown it is clearly a mature work as it expands the dramatic preoccupations of his madrigals as well as showing the influence of the spatially-separated music of which composers for St Mark’s Basilica in Venice were so fond.
Johann Sebastian Bach’s motets are considered one of the pinnacles of the choral repertoire, his intricate vocal writing requiring ‘the agility of a tightrope walker’ according to the modern exponent John Eliot Gardiner. No. 6 Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden may be the shortest but it is extremely concentrated; it may have been written for a funeral but it clearly anticipates an exuberant afterlife.
Bach’s contemporary Valentin Rathgeber, though apparently more popular at the time, is little-known today. The conductor of this concert Bill Strang has transcribed one of his several settings of the Alma Redemptoris mater which in some respects anticipates the simpler, charming style Mozart was to develop half a century later.
The Open University Choir will perform this programme of little gems alongside pieces for small orchestra and organ in a new venue for the Choir at Hockliffe Street Baptist Church, Leighton Buzzard, on Sunday, 17 November 2024 at 3:30 pm. Doors open at 3.10 pm.
Book tickets in advance
Tickets can be booked in advance via Eventbrite. A general admission ticket costs £10. Under-18 tickets are free but should be booked. All tickets include a printed programme. Tickets on the door are subject to availability and cash payment is preferred.
Accessibility: The venue is accessible. If you are a wheelchair user or have limited mobility please book tickets and email us at [email protected] to let us know you will be attending so we can ensure that an appropriate space is reserved for you. You will also need a ticket for anyone who accompanies you.
Parking
There is a large public car park down the street opposite the church where you can park for free on Sunday.
Covid safety: In the interests of performers and audience members, we ask that you do not attend the concert if you or someone in your household has tested positive for Covid, or if you are feeling unwell on the day.
This information and updates on the concert can be found on the concert page on the OU Choir website at: https://www.open.ac.uk/ouchoir/Mozart_Bach_Monteverdi
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Hockliffe Street Baptist Church, 33 Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00 to GBP 10.00
