FYI: SCJ CHOIR NEWS

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Graeme Wilkinson

unread,

Mar 24, 2019, 2:51:12 PM3/24/19

to sachora...@googlegroups.com

From: Marissa Rollnick <marissa....@wits.ac.za>
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2019 17:04
Subject: FW: SCJ CHOIR NEWS

The Symphony Choir of Johannesburg

presents

G. F. Handel : Messiah

on Good Friday

19^th April 2019 at18:00 at the Linder Auditorium, Parktown

The choir will be joined by 4 wonderful soloists

Hlangiwe Mkhwanazi (soprano), Violina Anguelov (alto), Nicholas Nicolaidis (tenor) and Aubrey Lodewyk (baritone),

and by the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra – on the podium the inimitable

Richard C

Georg Friderich Händel was born in Halle, Germany, into a religious, affluent household. His father wanted him to study law, but an acquaintance, the Duke of Weissenfels, heard the prodigy, then barely 11, play the organ. The nobleman's recognition of the boy's genius likely influenced Händel senior’s decision to allow his son to become a musician. Händel received his musical education in Halle-upon-Saale under Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow,and by age 18, Händel had composed his first opera.During the next five years, he was employed as a musician, composer and conductor at courts and churches in Rome, Florence, Naples and Venice, as well as in Germany, where the Elector of Hanover, the future King George I of England, was briefly his patron.

Handel's restless independence contrasted him with the other great composer of the age, Johann Sebastian Bach who had court patronage or church employment throughout his life. Handel, on the other hand, rarely attached himself to any benefactor for long, although he would compose court music when asked. Such free-spirited musical entrepreneurship was possible in London, to which Handel moved permanently in 1710. Handel grew in both fame – and girth – in London. He is renowned for his love of food and drink and for his reluctance to share these delights with others. Anecdotes abound of him serving simple meals for guests and then suddenly exclaiming “I have the thought” and rushing into the next room, ostensibly to compose – which, of course, no one dared interfere with – but actually to gorge himself on superb French cuisine and wine!! On the other hand he was very generous with his money. His fame made him a very rich man and he’d often give away some of the proceeds of concerts, opera performances, and music written to charitable causes.

The oratorio Messiah is one of the best-known and most loved pieces in the choral repertoire. The text was compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included in the Book of Common Prayer. Amazingly the music for Messiah was completed in 24 days - 259 pages of superb music! Incredible! Handel began work on it on 22 August and his records show that he had completed Part I in outline by 28 August, Part II by 6 September and Part III by 12 September, followed by two days of "filling up" to produce the finished work on 14 September.It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later.

Messiah has been described by the early-music scholar Richard Luckett as "a commentary on Jesus Christ's Nativity, Passion, Resurrection and Ascension", beginning with God's promises of the coming of Messiah as spoken by the prophets – part one – and ending with the Passion of Christ and Christ's glorification in heaven – part two and three. Part one and parts two and three of the oratorio are musically quite different thereby underlining the different textual basis for the narrative.

Messiah being one of the most frequently performed choral works in Western music the choir has a lot to live up to – superb performances by internationally renowned choirs, soloist and orchestras – and you’ll not be short-changed, with Richard at the helm all performers will strive for perfection and you’ll be treated to an evening of brilliant music.

To book your tickets please contact Debbie on 082 853 9709 ors...@worldonline.co.za , or Kate on 011 788 2340 or ne...@symphonychoirofjohannesburg.co.za – and they will be ready for collection in the foyer before the concert.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE.

AS MENTIONED IN MY LAST NEWSLETTER THIS IS NIC’S LAST CONCERT WITH US BEFORE MOVING TO TORONTO – YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS IT!

This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorised signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary.

Click here for Tshikululu disclaimer

This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for your human generated data.