Artists
Geraint Bowen – conductor
Anita Watson – soprano
Catherine Carby – mezzo soprano
Ruairi Bowen – tenor
Matthew Brook – bass
Three Choirs Festival Chorus
Programme
Dvořák Requiem
When asked to write a piece for the Birmingham Festival, Dvořák had originally considered setting The Dream of Gerontius, but this idea was reimagined into a setting of the Requiem Mass for the dead. A man of deep faith, Dvořák was careful to let the religious text and meaning shine through in his music, and the haunting uncertainty of the strings at the opening of the Requiem develops into a fierce Dies Irae and finally the beautiful and reflective Agnus Dei, where the Slavic tones show Dvořák’s enduring love for his home country. One of Dvořák’s most profound works, his Requiem is a powerful and moving imagining of a much-set text.
Supported by the Mumford Memorial Trust