Written between the two Wars, Ireland’s These Things Shall be is a powerful expression of humanistic and enlightenment values, a faith in the agency of individuals and a pacifist worldview. Ian Venables’ song cycle explores themes of love and sexuality through the poetry of the 19th and early 20th centuries. “Although the cycle’s underlying narrative portrays the love of man for man, I wanted to end the work with a celebration of the universality of love and especially the deep love that is found in a long-lasting relationship. This is a love that transcends sexual categories and is at the heart of a humane world where gay people no longer need to hide in ‘the shadows.’ Elgar’s Second Symphony is one of his most powerful and personal works, a musical portrait of a man and a civilisation standing at a turning point in history.

Elgar Festival 2025 - Gala Concert

Worcester Cathedral

In the summer of 1782, just before marrying, Mozart began work on his Great but incomplete Mass in C minor. Having encountered the masterpieces of Bach and Handel, Mozart began to reappraise his values as a composer. The result was the dark and otherworldly music Mozart completed as the torso of his score—a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass more profound in substance and grand in scale than any he had written before. Sir John Rutter conducts Mozart's monumental Great Mass in C minor, the culmination of a programme that includes the composer’s playful symphony composed during a brief stay in Linz and the Regina coeli, which comprises some of the most sublime music Mozart wrote for the church.

Gareth Brynmor John

Events

Past events

May 31, 2025

Elgar Festival 2025 - Gala Concert · English Symphony Orchestra

Apr 17, 2025

Mozart Great Mass in C Minor · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in Symphony No. 2 by Elgar

English Symphony Orchestra

Singer in These Things Shall Be by Ireland

English Symphony Orchestra

Singer in Out of the Shadows by Venables

English Symphony Orchestra

About

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