Saturday 24 June
St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth

Saturday 1 July
CBSO Centre Birmingham

 Concerts start 7pm

Paul Spicer - conductor

John Thwaites - pianist

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PROGRAMME

Brahms: motets and part-songs

 *Fest und Gedenksprüche (3 motets) op.109

 *Two motets op.74

 *Drei Quartette

 *Intermezzi op.117

  *Fünf Gesange op.104

 * Vier Quartette op.92

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Choral music for a summer’s evening by Johannes Brahms, one of the best-loved composers of the nineteenth century.

His wonderfully melodic music draws you in at every point and connects on the deepest levels of our humanity.

It is rare for the Birmingham Bach Choir to focus on the music of one composer in its programmes – although each concert in the current season has done just that  – Bach, then Rachmaninoff and now Brahms.

Our programme will be a heady mixture of sacred and secular music interspersed by piano music – the three unforgettable Intermezzi op.117 which complement, most especially, the two sets of Quartette op.64 and 92 which are both accompanied by piano. Amongst the other music we are performing, the Fünf Gesange Op.104, also secular pieces, are some of the most hauntingly memorable choral pieces in his output.

All the secular music comes after the interval, but we begin our concert with two sets of religious motets which vary in texture (some are for double choir) and complexity but all of which have Brahms’s inimitable stamp of musical authority which he wears so lightly as the music simply pours so naturally from him.

This will be a memorable concert and a rare opportunity to immerse ourselves in music which enriches the soul and warms the heart.

Paul Spicer

TICKETS ON SALE HERE Via PAYPAL

BRIDGNORTH

24 June 7pm: St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth

 Central Nave £20/£18 conc

 Side Nave  £17/£15 conc

  Student £12

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CENTRE NAVE Seat - Full Price £20.00 GBP CENTRE NAVE Seat - Concession £18.00 GBP

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SIDE NAVE Seat - Full Price £17.00 GBP SIDE NAVE Seat - Concession £15.00 GBP

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Student Ticket - Area allocated on arrival £12.00 GBP

TICKETS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE for BRIDGNORTH in the BRIDGNORTH LIBRARY

BIRMINGHAM

1 July: CBSO Centre, Birmingham

£20/£18 conc

 Student £12

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Unreserved Seat - Full Price £20.00 GBP Unreserved Seat - Concession £18.00 GBP Student Ticket £12.00 GBP

For alternative ways to purchase tickets, or if you have any problems using PayPal, please do contact our ticket officer:  tickets@birmingham.bachchoir.com

We are hugely grateful to The Sainsbury Trust for their kind support for this programme

THE VENUES:

St Mary Magdalene, Bridgnorth

East Castle Street, Bridgnorth, WV16 4AL

The lovely church of St Mary Magdalene dominates the landscape of this pretty town.

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For more details of St Mary Magdalen please visit: https://www.bridgnorthteamministry.org.uk/churches/bridgnorth-st-mary-magdalene/

For info about Bridgnorth, it’s cafes and restaurants, parking and travel: http://www.visitbridgnorth.co.uk

CBSO CENTRE

Berkley Street. Birmingham, B1 2LF

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The concert will be in the heart of the CBSO Centre building:The Justham Auditorium.

It is a well equipped modern building with bar and cloakrooms.

For more details, location and travel: https://cbso.co.uk

Saturday 18 November 7 pm

St Paul’s, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

Birmingham Bach Choir

Paul Spicer: conductor

Martyn Rawles: organist

PROGRAMME

JS Bach:  Fürchte dich nicht

D Scarlatti: Stabat Mater

Liszt: Missa Choralis

Paul Spicer writes:

"A programme of three of the greatest composers creating a wonderfully contrasted but entirely complimentary trio of works. Bach’s Fürchte dich nicht is perhaps the most enigmatic of his canon of six great motets and therefore possibly the least performed. And yet it is full of the most wonderful joyful music which will make a thrilling start to this concert.

Domenica Scarlatti was an exact contemporary of JS Bach - both were born in 1685. Scarlatti of course was Italian and his great Stabat Mater is truly one the the most beautiful choral works of its period. The start Mater dates from 1715 at the height of his maturity and is one of the most moving choral works. Wonderful interplay of parts, great emotional connection and a work of huge spiritual intensity.

Liszt (1811-1886) was, oof course, form the next century. But his remarkable Missa Choralis was written while he was in Rome and so shares some connection with Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater. This work was written following the death of both his son and daughter, three years apart, after which he moved to live in a monastery just outside Rome where he took minor orders in the Catholic Church. This Mass is a result of his desire to influence music in the Catholic Church, returning to reflect elements of its greatest period in the 16th century when Palestrina was composing. Liszt’sMass is rarely performed these days and we look forward to persuading a new audience of it’s radiance in wonderful inventiveness and lyrical beauty"

Tickets on sale here from August