Join the Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town on Saturday 4 March at 20h00 as we perform two moving choral works: Rutter’s Requiem and Stainer’s The Crucifixion.
Richard Haigh will be conducting.
Tickets available at Quicket:
Rutter’s Requiem
Written in 1985, Rutter’s Requiem is dedicated to Rutter’s Father, who died the previous year. Following the precedent established by Brahms and Fauré, among others, it is not strictly a setting of the Requiem Mass as laid down in Catholic liturgy, but is instead made up of a personal selection of texts, some taken from the Requiem Mass and some from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The seven movements that comprise the work are a sensitive exploration of life and death, lilting with a hopeful, universal understanding of grief.
Stainer’s The Crucifixion
This oratorio composed by John Stainer in 1887 and written by W J Sparrow Simpson, includes 20 movements that tell the story of The Passion. It is a moving and deeply devotional work. Stainer intended the piece to be within the scope of most parish church choirs, and it includes five hymns for congregational participation. We invite you to join us in song for these.
The work is considered a masterpiece of Christian religious music that was compared in its day with Handel’s Messiah and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Today almost everyone agrees that was a bit too high to rank The Crucifixion, but other oratorios cannot claim its strong evangelical emphasis.
Date: Saturday 4 March 2023
Time: 20h00
Venue: Groote Kerk
Seating: Unreserved
Works: Rutter’s Requiem and Stainer’s The Crucifixion
Conductor: Richard Haigh
Soloists:
Soprano: Elizabeth Catharina
Tenor: Willem Bester
Bass: Donal Slemon
Orchestra: Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra
Organist: Kevin Kraak
Parking options: Mandela Rhodes Place has secure, undercover parking accessible in Burg Street. Cost of R35 per entry after 18h00. It is just a short walk to Groote Kerk from the parking garage. (google maps reference : https://goo.gl/maps/SbPFrERF9YWxjZWv8 parking entrance is in Burg Street)