Choral Concert
At 7.30 pm on 3rd of December, 2022 Stowmarket Chorale, under the conductor Benedict Collins Rice, will be performing Hadyn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Cantata III at Woolpit Village Hall, Mill Lane, Woolpit, IP30 9QX. The tenor soloist will be William Searle.
Missa Sancti Nicolai, Mass No. 6 in G major also known as the Nicolaimesse, is a mass by Joseph Haydn written for the time of Advent. It was composed around 1772 and revised in 1802.
It is believed to have received its first performance on the 6th of December 1772 in celebration of the name-day of Hadyn’s patron, Count Nikolaus Esterhazy.
Haydn wrote the Mass in a very short space of time and the “Dona nobis pacem” has the same melody as the “Kyrie”, both being written in 6/8 time. Overall the entire Mass has a very pastoral character.
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio was written in 1723 and 1724 and was first performed in its entirety in the Christmas season of 1734-1735. At this time, Bach was in Leipzig. He had written six cantatas for the Festival of Christmas using portions of the Nativity story from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. In the third cantata, in D major which we are performing, the shepherds go to find Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus, then return to their fields, glorifying God.
Tickets are £17.50 per person. Telephone 07972 6668180 or book online via tickets@stowmarkechorale.org.uk. Tickets are also available on the door. Children and students go free.