A Cheshire cathedral will soon resound with some of the most stirring sacred music ever composed.
Chester Music Society Choir will perform its season finale concert, The Hallelujah Chorus and other Scared Anthems, at Chester Cathedral on Saturday, May 23, at 7.30pm.
The evening will feature 16 of the best-loved church anthems, including works by composers such as Purcell, Vivaldi, Mozart and Brahms.
John Ferrari, chair of Chester Music Society Choir, said: "What better way to bring our current season of concerts to a close than with a concert featuring "the greatest hits" of choral music.
"The 16 composers you will hear are Purcell, Vivaldi, Mozart, Brahms, Haydn, Bach, Elgar, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Faure, Rutter, Handel, Parry, Franck, Jenkins and Lotti.
"It’s a fantasy football league collection of the great classical composers of all time, and you get to hear them all in one night."
The programme opens with Parry’s I Was Glad.
Other highlights include Vivaldi’s Gloria, Purcell’s Te Deum, and Rutter’s A Gaelic Blessing.
Several popular wedding anthems will also be performed, including Ave Verum Corpus and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.
The choir will be joined by soloists from the Chester Cathedral Choir and conductor Graham Jordan Eliis.
They will be accompanied by organist Graham Eccles performing on Chester Cathedral’s historic 1884 pipe organ.
The concert will conclude with Handel’s iconic Hallelujah Chorus, part of a work with special connections to the city.
In November 1741, Handel stopped in Chester en route to Dublin due to poor weather and is said to have rehearsed Messiah with choristers at The Golden Falcon Inn on Northgate Street.
The concert also offers another chance to hear the cathedral’s grand pipe organ, which features 69 stops and 86 ranks of pipes, the longest of which is 32 feet.
Following refurbishment, the instrument was re-inaugurated by French composer Maurice Duruflé in 1968.
More information about the season finale concert, including the full programme and ticketing, is available at chestermusicsociety.org.uk/choir-concerts.
Tickets can also be purchased in person from the Chester Cathedral Box Office.
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