Gloria in excelsis deo
Kantos joins Northern Chamber Orchestra for a concert with Christmas themes. Vivaldi’s Gloria, his most significant sacred work, is matched only by The Four Seasons in its popularity. Whilst the opening words derive from the Latin Mass, they might be thought to bear a Christmas message: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of goodwill’.
Two orchestral works and two pieces for choir alone precede the Gloria. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto is one of the most famous of Christmas Concerti Grossi, whilst Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets, played here by the NCO’s own principals, Tracey Redfern and Peter Mainwaring, sparkles with joyous fanfares. These concertos are interspersed with two contemporary choral masterpieces, Morten Lauridsen’s deeply moving O Magnum Mysterium (1994), based on a Gregorian chant for Christmas, and Dobrinka Tabakova’s Alma Redemptoris Mater (2014).
Kantos is conducted by Ellie Slorach. The orchestral pieces are directed from the violin by Ian Watson, who has acted as guest principal with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, the RLPO and the London Mozart Players.
This concert has been generously sponsored by Dr Barbara and Bevan Broadbent.
The Music
Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto for Two Trumpets
Dobrinka Tabakova - Alma Redemptoris Mater
Arcangelo Corelli - Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 8 in G minor (Fatto per la notte di Natale)
Morten Lauridsen - O Magnum Mysterium
Antonio Vivaldi - Gloria