St Albans St Cecilia festival concert

St Albans Symphony Orchestra (including St Albans Symphony Orchestra Productions Ltd)

The (notionally) biennial St Albans St Cecilia Festival concert in the Cathedral will be held on Saturday the 15th of November this year. Starting at 7:30 p.m. three awesome choral works should gladden the hearts of all present –

We open with Herbert Howells’ Magnificat 'Collegium Regale', followed by the first part of Dvořák's Stabat Mater, after which there will be an interval.

After the interval (starting at approximately 8:25 p.m.) Mendelssohn's Hear My Prayer will be followed by the second part of Stabat Mater, finishing the concert.

The St Albans Symphony Orchestra (SASO) joins forces with 4 local choirs (Aeolian Singers, St Albans Chamber Choir, Hardynge Choir, and Radlett Choir), 4 professional soloists (Erin Rossington: soprano, Angharad Rowlands: mezzo-soprano, Robert Watson: tenor, and Emyr Wyn Jones: bass-baritone), and a St Albans Cathedral Chorister (William Democratis: treble). The nave will reverberate to the passions expressed by the massed musical forces.

Herbert Howells’ Magnificat 'Collegium Regale': The Magnificat [My soul] magnifies [the Lord] is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary. Howells published 18 settings of the Magnificat over his career, including this Collegium Regale setting, written for King's College, Cambridge.

Antonín Dvořák's Stabat Mater is an extended setting of the 20 stanzas of the 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as a mother during the crucifixion of her son, Jesus Christ. The title comes from its first line, "Stabat Mater dolorosa" - "the sorrowful mother was standing". The piece will be performed in two parts, the first part following the Magnificat 'Collegium Regale', the second part following Hear My Prayer.

Felix Mendelssohn's Hear My Prayer uses a text whose sentiments echo what we find in the psalms, particularly Psalm 55, a song of supplication in the face of extreme