HPC launch new season with Mozart and Haydn

The Hastings Philharmonic Choir launches its 2023 season on 15 April at Christ Church in St Leonards with two classical masterpieces: Mozart’s ‘Great’ Mass in C minor and Haydn’s Te Deum. They will be accompanied by the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra, which will also perform Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto. Press officer Gareth Simpson reports.

The concert will be conducted by the choir’s highly respected musical director, Marcio da Silva, while the soloists are all leading UK singers: Kathleen Nic Dhiarmada and Helen May (sopranos), Kieran White (tenor) and Jack Lawrence -Jones (bass). Ben Exell is the bassoon soloist.

The Mass in C minor was composed in 1783 when Mozart was 27, in fulfilment of a vow made at the time of his marriage. His wife, who was a soprano, sang at its first performance. The work is incomplete, missing the Credo movements following the aria Et incarnatus est (the orchestration of the only two surviving Credo movements being incomplete) and all of the Agnus Dei. The Sanctus and Benedictus are partially lost and required editorial reconstruction.

The work combines some of Mozart’s grandest choral writing with some meltingly beautiful solo passages.

Haydn’s joyful Te Deum was composed around 1799 to a commission by Empress Maria Therese of Austria, who was herself an accomplished singer. Its first performance, a year later, celebrated the visit of Admiral Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton to the Eisenstadt home of Haydn’s employer, Prince Esterhazy.

Despite the 24-year age difference, Haydn and Mozart became close friends when they met in Vienna, being great admirers of each other’s music.

On Sunday 30 July HPC will participate in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah oratorio together with Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra, Billingshurst Choral Society and choirs from Germany, also at Christ Church.

Roots

Hastings Philharmonic Choir can trace its beginnings back to 1928 when the organist at the Wellington Square Baptist Church merged his choir, the Wellington Square Choral Society, with the St Mary in the Castle Centenary church to celebrate the centenary of St Mary in the Castle with a highly successful performance of the Messiah.

Nearly 100 years later, under its musical director, Marcio da Silva, the Hastings Philharmonic Choir has established itself as one of the foremost choirs in the area, thrilling audiences and critics alike with performances to rival those of many professional ensembles. Revolving around the major choral works of the baroque to romantic periods, the choir’s wide-ranging repertoire extends also to classics of the twentieth century. Concerts in recent years have included works by Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Brahms, Verdi, Orff, Britten and Lauridsen.

Through his work with our choir since 2012 and as artistic director of Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra and the HPO Singers (both founded under the umbrella of Hastings Philharmonic Choir in 2016 but now operating separately), Marcio da Silva has made a huge contribution to the musical life of the whole town, offering an impressive range of high-quality choral, orchestral and chamber music performances each year.

Marcio has wide-ranging international experience as an orchestral conductor, having worked with orchestras in Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Poland, Turkey and Kosovo. He also has considerable experience of oratorio, having conducted most of the mainstream romantic and baroque oratorio repertoire.

 

Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Haydn’s Te Deum Hastings Philharmonic Choir and soloists, accompanied by Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra. Saturday 15 April, 7pm, Christ Church, Silchester Road, St Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6GL.

Tickets are on sale via the choir’s website, by phone 01424 437554 or at The Bookkeeper, 1a Kings Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, priced at £20/£17/£12.50 . Students, under 18s, jobseekers and universal credit recipients £5 or free depending on place.

Interested in joining? This friendly choir is always happy to welcome new members, who enjoy singing and who can follow written-down music. The best way of finding out is for you is to visit one or more of our weekly rehearsals. If you would like to do this, send us an email and we will be delighted to see you.

 

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