A Hymn to St. Cecilia: Music of Bach & Britten
June 6, 2023 7:30pm
St. Bartholomew’s Choir
Paolo Bordignon, conductor
Alexander Pattavina, organ
“In a garden shady this holy lady
With reverent cadence and subtle psalm ...
Poured forth her song in perfect calm.”
W. H. Auden’s Hymn to St. Cecilia is as fresh, startling, and brilliant today as when he first penned the poem in 1940 at the request of his Brooklyn housemate, Benjamin Britten. The collaboration proved to be their last but the short masterpiece they produced is one of the best-loved a cappella choral works of the century. Join St. Bartholomew’s Choir for a concert whose subject is the celebration of music itself by two of its most inventive creators: Britten and Bach. The program will include Bach’s motets Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225, and Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, BWV 226.
Program:
Britten: Jubilate Deo in C
Britten: Festival Te Deum in E, Op. 32
Bach: Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, BWV 226
Bach:“Gigue” Fugue in G Major, BWV 577 [organ solo]
Britten: Hymn to St. Cecilia
Bach: [Allegro], from Trio Sonata No. 1 in E-flat, BWV 525 [organ solo]
Britten: Antiphon
Bach: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225
Howells: A Hymn for St Cecilia