Reverberations

Our second concert of 2025 celebrates the glorious music of both Franz Schubert and his close friend and collaborator Franz Lachner.

Schubert’s Mirjams Siegesgesang (Miriam’s Song of Victory) is a tour de force composed in the year of his death at 31 in 1828. It is one of his most demanding roles for a soprano soloist accompanied by a large chorus and orchestra, as Miriam celebrates her brother Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea to freedom. The influences of Handel and Beethoven echo throughout this dramatically triumphal cantata, orchestrated by Lachner as a ‘labour of love’ after the composer’s tragically early death.

While Franz Lachner’s fame has not equalled that of his great friend, here we offer a rare opportunity to experience his hauntingly beautiful Requiem in F Minor. Composed in 1856 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, Lachner’s only Mass for the Dead is a romantic masterpiece. Paying homage to both Mozart and Schubert, it was widely lauded as ‘most perfect of its kind after Mozart’s Requiem’ and this performance is the chance for a contemporary audience to recognise and relish its unfading glory.

Music Director Christopher Bowen OAM will conduct the concert.

Soloists:

Amy Moore - Soprano

Elizabeth Cooper - Alto

Richard Butler - Tenor

David Hidden - Bass