Winter Concert: Saturday 7th February 2015.
Gioachino Rossini
Petite Messe Solennelle
Julian Littlewood, piano
Nicolas Haigh, harmonium
Louise Wayman, soprano
Alex Pullinger, counter-tenor
Guy Cutting, tenor
Brian McAlea, bass
Duncan Saunderson, conductor
and Summertown Choral Society
O Salutaris Hostia
Summertown Choral Society
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Pater Noster
Summertown Choral Society
Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, written around 1863, is neither short nor solemn. It is so called because of its economy of scale, with the orchestra banished, and its formality of a sung Mass. However, Rossini was the greatest writer of comic opera and his humour and gift for melody is present on every page. The German composer Giacomo Meyerbeer has been described as perhaps the most successful stage composer of the 19th century. A friend of Rossini’s, he attended the first two performances of the Messe and was greatly affected. His beautiful but under performed Pater Noster was written in 1857, the same year Rossini’s extremely charming motet O Salutaris Hostia was written.
Summertown Choral Society was joined by piano, harmonium and four soloists including the tenor Guy Cutting, the first recipient of the highly prestigious Jeffrey Thomas American Bach Soloists Award.