We are extremely pleased to have the Mid-Herts Youth Orchestra playing with us for this concert.
The main work being performed is Giacomo Puccini's Messa or Messa a quattro voci (currently more widely known under the apocryphal name of Messa di Gloria) which is a Mass composed for orchestra and four-part choir with tenor, bass and baritone soloists. Strictly speaking, the piece is a full Mass, not a true Messa di Gloria (which contains only the Kyrie and Gloria and omits the Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei).
Puccini wrote the short Requiem – actually the setting of the antiphon to the Introit of the Mass for the Dead – as a commission for the publisher Giulio Ricordi for the fourth anniversary of the death of Giuseppe Verdi, which occurred on 27 January 1905. Today the work is often performed, since this setting for three voices can be easily performed by amateur choirs and requires only a viola and a harmonium (or organ) as accompanying instruments.
The Mid-Herts Youth Orchestra will also be playing some orchestral pieces in the first half of the concert.
TIckets can be bought online now via WeGot Tickets at https://www.wegottickets.com/StevenageChoral. Tickets can be ordered by mail or phone through our website (details on our Contact page) but these tickets will be available from the end of September.
