Conductor ~ Christine Gwynn
Organist ~ Laurence Lyndon-Jones
Our spring concert features choral pieces by two Hungarian-born composers, Liszt – famous especially for his instrumental writing – and Kodály, a champion of choral music as composer, conductor and educator. We're delighted that we'll be joined by Laurence Lyndon-Jones, organist of Chelmsford Cathedral.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) composed the Missa Choralis, a mass for mixed chorus and organ, in 1865, the year in which he took minor orders in the church. He was based in Rome, staying as a guest in Vatican apartments, at the time of writing the Mass. The current state of liturgical composition being somewhat depressing, Liszt sought to venture in fresh directions, bringing inspiration from plainsong and the music of Palestrina into his modern harmonic world.
Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) composed Laudes Organi in 1966. It was commissioned for the National Convention of The American Guild of Organists and proved to be his last completed composition before his death aged 84 the following year.
It is a hymn of praise for chorus and organ – in praise of organs! Like Listz’s work it has a strong connection with older music, being a fantasia on a Sequence from a 12th century manuscript in Engelberg Monastery, Switzerland; striking and bold it is full of modern colour and invention.
