The Culwick Choral Society is delighted to present their Summer concert, A Classic Sandwich with a Contemporary Filling, on Friday 17th May at 7.30pm in St. Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, Dublin 2.

The Concert will feature the Culwick Choral Society and the Culwick Orchestra with soloists: Judith Lyons, Sarah Thursfield, Rory Lynch and Jeffrey Ledwidge, under the direction of David Leigh.

We are particularly excited to be performing the rarely performed The Light of Life by Edward Elgar (1896). This oratorio for soprano, contralto, tenor and baritone soloists, full choir and orchestra, is based on the biblical text from St John’s Gospel that recounts the story of the blind beggar whose sight Christ restored. While The Light of Life tells a self-contained story, it is appropriate to regard it musically as the first of the trilogy of New Testament oratorios continued by The Apostles and The Kingdom. Elgar adopted leitmotifs for the main characters and concepts in The Light of Life, some of which reappear in his later two oratorios, most notably the gentle motif representing Jesus as the giver of light.

The concert will open with Joseph Haydn’s Te Deum Laudamus (c. 1800). The Te Deum is a Christian hymn in Latin, “God, We Praise You”, that dates from the fourth or fifth century, and is a hymn to God the Father and Christ the Son, traditionally sung on occasions of public rejoicing. Much of the text is composed of traditional statements of belief, and, unlike most hymns, it is prose. The melody derives from various pre-Gregorian and Gregorian melodic styles.

John Rutter’s Magnificat (1990) takes the place of the “Contemporary Filling” in the concert. ‘John Rutter has stated that his intention was to write a Magnificat that evoked Mediterranean sunshine and celebration, as well as the spirit of the many exuberant festivals held throughout Europe in honour of the Virgin Mary. To this end, the work is full of energetic, syncopated rhythms and strong melodies, with more than a hint of the musical theatre from time to time.’ (John Bawden).

Tickets are available at €30 from Eventbrite. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/culwick-spring-concert-2024-tickets-851040784897?aff=ebdsoporgprofile