Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents JUBILATION: HANDEL & HAYDN
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs are set to mark their final Sydney Town Hall concert for 2022 with a grand afternoon of 18thcentury festive music, brought to life by their Festival Chorus. One of the Choirs’ biggest concerts of the year with more than 300 singers taking to the stage, Jubilation: Handel & Haydn juxtaposes momentous works from two of the world’s most celebrated composers with fresh new contemporary compositions, for a powerfully uplifting performance that promises to lift the roof. One concert only, 3pm Sunday May 22.
Jubilation: Handel & Haydn begins with Handel’s four majestic Coronation Anthems, commissioned by King George II of Great Britain for the occasion of his and Queen Caroline’s coronation at Westminster Abbey in October 1727. Perfectly capturing the pomp and splendour of the occasion, the works are also renowned as a celebration of the Baroque era at its most opulent and glorious – expect resounding voices and music that bursts with colour and energy.
Still in use today, Handel’s centuries-old compositions remain the best known and most popular coronation anthems and celebratory works ever written. Zadok the Priest, in particular, has been performed at every British coronation since its debut; and since 1992 – when it was rearranged as anthem for the UEFA Champions League, one of the world’s most prestigious football tournaments – become instantly recognisable as one of the most epic sports songs of all time.
Interspersed within these magnificent anthems, reminiscent of the grand pageantry of days long gone, the audience will be treated to the premiere of freshly created orchestral interludes from three emerging Australian composers: The Fractured Crown by Tomas Parrish-Chynoweth, Ineffable by Aidan Charles Rosa, and Lavender Paper Cranes by Aija Draguns (also a member of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ young adult choir VOX) .
The second half of the concert is dedicated to Haydn’s Nelson Mass, a remarkable sacred work, renowned for its boldness and rich dramatic power. One of the best loved compositions from the most celebrated European composer of his time, the Nelson Mass was written in 1798, a time of great turmoil in Haydn’s native Austria, with Napoleon’s armies making great advances.
This is likely one of the major reasons that Haydn originally titled the work, Missa in Angustiis (Mass for troubled times), although the composer was almost certainly impacted by other “troubles”: with widespread fear underscoring political and financial instability in Austria, the number of musicians that Haydn had at his disposal in the Esterhazy court in Vienna were temporarily cut back, and he was also exhausted from mounting the recent premiere of his great oratorio, The Creation.
What Haydn could not have known whilst penning his masterpiece, was that on August 1st, British forces led by Admiral Horatio Nelson had dealt Napoleon a stunning defeat, putting an end to Austria’s worries. Because of the timing of these events the Mass gradually acquired the name, Lord Nelson Mass, a title that was firmly fixed when, in 1800, Lord Nelson and his British mistress, Lady Hamilton, visited the Palais Esterházy and met with the composer. Nelson and Haydn became firm friends and some say that the heroic Admiral even gave Haydn a gold watch in exchange for the pen that he had used to compose a cantata in honour of Lady Hamilton.
One undisputable fact is that Napoleon’s defeat changed the way that the Mass was heard from then on: its tempestuous opening and drama to follow were reinterpreted as a depiction of danger and agitation, to be ultimately supplanted by triumphant victory.
Artistic and Music Director, Brett Weymark comments:
Contemporary audiences will find new relevance in the Coronation Anthems contemplated through the eyes of three young Australian composers. Interspersed between the original works – written almost 300-years ago, in glorious celebration of an English monarch, Draguns’, Rosa’s and Parrish-Chynoweth’s orchestral interludes reconceptualise the history, monarchy and power embedded within, in three unique responses to Handel’s work.
Book now for this unmissable concert experience conducted by Weymark and performed by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ Festival Chorus, with special guest soloists Penelope Mills, Russell Harcourt, Louis Hurley and Christopher Richardson, and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, 3pm Sunday May 22 at Sydney Town Hall.
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs will next appear in the intimate surrounds of St Andrew’s Cathedral in July with Grant Us Peace, a concert of sacred music from Pēteris Vasks, alongside two new Australian works. In September the Choirs return to the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall stage with the Sydney premiere of Grammy award-winning composer’s Eric Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil, Whitacre taking the baton as special guest conductor. Followed by Glorious Puccini in October, and Handel’s iconic Messiah in December.
Founded in 1920, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s leading, largest and longest-standing choral organisation, working with more than 1,500 singers across six choirs.
Season Details
Venue: Sydney Town Hall
Date: 22 May 2022
For more information click HERE
