Auckland Choral presents Lux Aeterna/Beethoven

From the resplendent energy of Jonathan Dove’s motet ‘Vast Ocean of Light’ to the joy and exuberance of Beethoven’s ‘Choral Fantasy’, this concert promises to be a hopeful, uplifting experience.

‘Lux Aeterna’ is a tranquil, light-filled piece, which is at the same time transportive and transcendent, penned by one of America’s best-loved choral composers, Morten Lauridsen.

Haydn’s ‘Te Deum,’ written in the bright key of C Major, is a hymn of praise written for Empress Marie Therese in 1800. It depicts the joie de vivre in which so many of Haydn’s works are imbued.

Beethoven’s ‘Choral Fantasy’ opens with a virtuosic improvisatory Adagio for piano, leading finally to the entry of the solo voices and then the chorus, in praise of music. The theme has much in common with the theme Beethoven devised in 1824 for his Choral Symphony, with its setting of Schiller’s Ode to Joy.

Michael Houstoun Piano
Philip Smith Organ
Auckland Choral
Pipers Sinfonia

Elizabeth Mandeno Soprano
Dagmara Tyszler Soprano
Dilys Fong Alto
Sid Chand Tenor
Campbell McGregor Tenor
Jarvis Dams Baritone
Uwe Grodd Conductor