2016 Concerts

Cherubini Requiem

Beethoven and Haydn

Saturday 12 March 2016

7.30pm

(ends 9.15pm approximately)

The Apex, Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds

Cherubini     Requiem in C minor

Haydn          Te Deum in C major

Beethoven   Symphony No. 1 in C major

Prometheus Orchestra

Bury Bach Choir

Philip Reed conductor

Tonight’s concert features works from three great composers: Haydn, Beethoven and Cherubini.

Though Italian by upbringing, Luigi Cherubini - as director of the Paris Conservatoire - became the most influential man in French music. He wrote his Requiem in C minor for a commemoration service in 1817 for Louis XVI of France (23 years after the king’s beheading during the French Revolution). It was much admired by Schumann, Brahms and particularly Beethoven (who rated Cherubini as the greatest composer of his day) and was performed at Beethoven’s funeral. This very powerful and beautiful Requiem for chorus and orchestra has an assured grandeur that combines passion and power with simplicity and purity. It is now widely acknowledged as one of the timeless monuments of sacred art.

In his setting of the Te Deum for choir and orchestra, Haydn unexpectedly imbues the traditional religious text with an engaging aura of happiness and exuberant gratitude.

Composed on the cusp of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the first symphony of Beethoven takes Haydn’s classical form, yet Beethoven makes it his own, hinting at his greatness to come. It is by turns surprising, dramatic, exciting and wild, yet throughout this piece the harmonies and orchestration are incredibly beautiful.

Booking opens 7 September 2015

Tickets £23, £19.50 and £14 (all seats reserved)

Early booking discount £1 off all tickets booked by 13 February 2016

Elgar The Music Makers

Queen's 90th Birthday

Saturday 14 May 2016

7.30pm

(ends 9.20pm approximately)

St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds 

Elgar       The Music Makers, Op. 69

Elgar       Sea Pictures, Op. 37

Parry       I was glad

Harris      Bring us, O Lord God

Valerie Reid mezzo-soprano

Prometheus Orchestra 

Bury Bach Choir

Philip Reed conductor 

In celebration of the Queen's 90th birthday, this final concert in our season brings together the music of three English composers.

Much of Elgar’s music revolves around dreams and the inaccessibility of the “world beyond reach”.  The Music Makers is a setting of ‘Ode’ by Arthur O’Shaughnessy. Its central theme is the role of the artist who, through his dreaming in isolation, has the responsibility to shape the future of mankind. The complex ebb and flow of Elgar’s music adds many layers of emotional imagery to the text, and famously includes quotations from several of his other pieces including The Dream of Gerontius, Sea Pictures and the Enigma Variations. Prepare to be enthralled!

In his song-cycle Sea Pictures, Elgar sets five poems. In each, the music evokes the sounds and endless movements of the sea, and the threat posed by its unpredictable moods. These songs will be performed this evening by Valerie Reid, who performs regularly in leading roles at the English National Opera.

In Bring us, O Lord God, W. H. Harris set a poem by John Donne for unaccompanied 8-part choir which paints a radiant picture of heaven that builds gloriously to the final ecstatic Amen.

Hubert Parry’s anthem derived from Psalm 122, familiar to all from its frequent use at royal occasions, never fails to send a tingle down the spine with its opening choral cloudburst of the words I was glad.

Booking opens 22 February 2016

Tickets £25 and £20 (reserved) and £14 (unreserved)

Mozart Requiem

Remembrance Concert

Saturday 12 November 2016

7.30pm

(concert ends 9.20pm approximately)

The Apex, Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds

Mozart    Requiem

Mozart    Ave Verum Corpus

Bach        Cantata: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (BWV 147) 

Corinne Spence Hart soprano

Valerie Reid mezzo-soprano

Christopher Turner tenor

Tom Asher bass

Prometheus Orchestra

Bury Bach Choir

Philip Reed conductor

For this Remembrance weekend, the Bury Bach Choir performs one of the most well-known choral works of the repertory: Mozart’s Requiem.

Mozart accepted the commission for the Requiem from a mysteriously anonymous patron in the summer of 1791. By the autumn Mozart was seriously ill and died on 5 December, having completed only half the work and sketched some of the rest. In urgent need of the remainder of the commissioning fee, Mozart’s widow Constanze secretly invited her husband’s pupil, Franz Süssmayr, to complete the score, which was then delivered to the patron with no mention of Süssmayr’s involvement! Despite the availability of several recent modern completions of Mozart’s Requiem, Süssmayr’s version remains the one most familiar to audiences. For our special performance, we are joined by an outstanding quartet of soloists.

With the inclusion of Mozart’s beautiful and moving Ave verum corpus, and Bach’s Cantata No. 147, which includes the well-known ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’, this will be an occasion to enjoy and to remember – don’t miss it.

Booking opens 5 September 2016

Tickets £23, £19.50 and £14 (all seats reserved)

Early booking discount £1 off all tickets booked by 15 October 2016

A Christmas Celebration

Saturday 17 December 2016

7.30pm

(concert ends 9.15pm approximately)

The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Lavenham

Valerie Reid mezzo-soprano

Graeme Danby bass

Jill Burrows reader

James Recknell organ/piano

Bury Bach Choir

Philip Reed conductor

Get Christmas off to a joyful start by joining us for a feast of Christmas music in the beautiful parish church at Lavenham. This concert is always a highlight of the Christmas season! We will be singing a variety of seasonal music, mixing the familiar with some less known pieces, and including a series of Christmas readings.

We are delighted that this year our co-Presidents Graeme Danby and Valerie Reid – both distinguished opera singers with international careers – will again be performing with us. It’ll be a great evening!

Bring the family and join in with your favourite carols before enjoying mince pies and mulled wine.

Ticket price includes refreshments.

Booking opens 5 September 2016

Tickets £15 (all seats unreserved), under 21s free

Early booking discount £1 off all tickets booked by 19 November 2016

Tickets also available for cash from 21 November from

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