Lenten Choral Concert in Tetbury
The season of Lent has provided a rich canvas for choral composers over the centuries and the Avebury Vocal Ensemble (AVE) will be making much of the musical opportunities at their concert in St. Mary’s church, Tetbury on Saturday 16th March at 7.00pm.
The two main works make musical use of the chanting that was common in liturgical settings in times past. Allegri’s Miserere is a Latin setting of Psalm 51 written for the papal choir in Rome around 1638 and alternates choral verses with verses of monophonic Gregorian chanting for the exclusive use of the Sistine Chapel during Holy Week.
The second main work is Bairstow’s Lamentation. It is an English setting of the poetic Lamentations of Jeremiah for the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. The work makes use of the Anglican style of chanting and is also used in Western Christianity at services during Holy Week.
There are many other choral works for the season of Lent in the concert including movements from John Stainer’s much loved oratorio Crucifixion, Anton Bruckner’s Christus Factus Est, Antonio Lotti’s eight part Crucifixus and Max Reger’s Unser Lieben Frauen Traum (Our Lady’s Dream). It promises to be an excellent evening’s musical enlightenment for Lent.