Our friends and RPS Corporate Members, Brighton Festival Chorus are joined by Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor James Morgan, and Brighton Festival Youth Choir, for a richly atmospheric programme exploring humanity’s relationship with nature, loss, and transcendence.

Soloists: 
Soprano Emma Tring
Tenor Thomas Elwin
Viola Caroline Harrison

Programme:
Vaughan WilliamsFive Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus’
Walton Touch her soft lips and part (from Henry V)
Howells Elegy for Viola
BrittenDeo Gracias
Students of BHASVICNature’s Lament
HowellsHymnus Paradisi  

'The concert opens with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus which was written for a British Council commission in New York in 1939. Based on the English folk song of the same name, it has become one of his best loved works, and was played at Vaughan Williams’ funeral in 1958.  From there, we turn to the deeply personal voice of Herbert Howells in his Elegy for Viola and String Orchestra – a poignant meditation on grief and remembrance, suffused with tenderness and introspection. A special highlight of the evening is Nature’s Lament, an original work by students of BHASVIC. This powerful new piece reflects the urgency of the climate crisis through fresh, contemporary voices, offering both challenge and hope. 

Following the interval, one of the most profound choral works of the twentieth century: Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi. Written in the shadow of personal tragedy, this extraordinary composition moves from darkness to radiant consolation, blending choir and orchestra in music of luminous beauty and spiritual depth. 
"It is the blaze of a thousand suns in the Sanctus, it is a golden radiance in the penultimate chorus; and at last, to the words requiem sempiternam, it is the light of dawn." (Frank Howes, Times music critic after first performance in 1950 Set within the stunning surroundings of All Saints, Hove, this promises to be an unforgettable evening of music that speaks to the heart, the present moment, and the enduring power of human creativity and hope.'

Tickets: £12.50 - £39.00

Doors open at 6:45pm

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