On Holy Night

Exeter Festival Chorus

Saturday 10 December 2022 at 7.30pm in St David's Church, Queen's Terrace, Exeter, EX4 4HR

Andrea Brown, musical director
Peter Adcock, piano
Gregory Steward, tenor
Soloists from the choir

This year, the choir's Christmas programme combines joyous seasonal baroque music with audience participation carols.

The main feature of the first half of the concert comprises Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit pour Noël. Marc-Antoine Charpentier held the important post of Maître de Musique at the great Jesuit church of St-Louis in Paris. Dating from around 1690, the Messe de Minuit is an inspired and masterful blend of melodies drawn from traditional French carols and new music composed by Charpentier.

It was once a custom in France for carols to be an integral part of the celebration of Midnight Mass, despite their secular origins. This Messe is made up of eleven noëls, most of which are dance-like in character, reflecting the traditional folk-song nature of the carols.

The choir will then be joined by the audience to sing It came upon the midnight clear.

Interval refreshments will be served for audience and choir.

The work in the second half of the concert is Christmas Story by Heinrich Schütz.

A musical setting of the Nativity, sung at this performance in English, it was intended to be performed during a service instead of a Gospel reading. It was probably first performed at a Christmas service in 1660 at the court of the Elector of Saxony, Dresden, where Schütz directed the choir as Kapellmeister.

Gregory Steward, tenor, narrates the story in the role of Evangelist. Other well-known and traditional characters of the Nativity story are also featured: hosts of angels, shepherds, the three wise men, priests and scribes, King Herod and an angel who appears to Joseph. All these roles will be sung by members of EFC.  The concert conlcudes with In dulci jubilo and audience participation in Hark the Herold Angels sing.