Requiem

Rutter combines with Puccini in an evening of spine-tingling choral music.

Under the baton of musical director Neil Taylor, The Sheffield Chorale's autumn concert will provide an evening of beautiful choral music featuring 2 full works.

.John Rutter’s ‘Requiem’ will need little introduction to most of you, but it is many years since the choir last performed this popular work. Composed with the intention of creating an intimate sense of comfort and consolation in time of bereavement, it combines texts from the Requiem Mass and the Book of Common Prayer, including the beautiful setting of 'The Lord is my shepherd'.

Another well-known composer Giacomo Puccini, provides a less frequently performed work in his ‘Messa di Gloria’. Puccini is generally regarded as one of the greatest opera composers and no doubt many of you will be familiar with ‘Madame Butterfly’, ‘La Boheme’ and ‘Tosca’. Before he began writing operas, at the tender age of eighteen Puccini wrote ‘Messa di Gloria’ as his graduation piece for the Pacini institute. It was well received at its first performance in 1880, but was then not performed again in Puccini’s lifetime as he changed his focus from sacred work to opera. Eventually published in 1951 it consists of the standard parts of the mass but the music is extremely operatic in style providing great opportunities for our guest soloists.

Performers

Edward Harvey (bass), Tim Peters (tenor), Kate Wareham (flute) and Gemma Wareham (cello)

Programme

• John Rutter: Requiem
• Giacomo Puccini: Messa di Gloria