Join us to see and hear something that we cannot possibly put on in St Oswald’s Church and enjoy being delivered to the door! Excursion price includes the ticket and also transport from Sowerby Church, Thirsk (map) or The Crown, Boroughbridge (map). Everyone is welcome, you may be new to Sowerby Music and maybe also to classical music. Tickets must be booked in advance. |
Mahler Symphony No 8 — Sorry, this excursion is now sold out.
Sunday 2nd May 2010
depart Sowerby 12.30pm, Boroughbridge 12.45pm
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
Bringing together the combined forces of the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic, four choirs and a first-class roster of vocal soloists, Sir Mark Elder conducts a rare airing of Mahler's extravagantly monumental Eighth Symphony. Its epic dimensions and staggering vision, requiring a vast number of performers including blazing brass around the balconies, have earned it the reputation of a work of Olympian proportions.
The music, subtle in detail and unavoidably personal in its intensity of utterance yet shattering in its cumulative power, came to Mahler in a white heat of inspiration. The words combine sacred and secular - God with Goethe - in the medieval hymn ‘Veni, Creator Spiritus’ (‘a great confident shout to the skies’) and a setting of the final scene of the Faust legend. A live performance of Symphony No.8, with its special challenges, brings a real sense of occasion, preceded here by a dazzling organ improvisation on the symphony's uplifting ‘Veni, Creator Spiritus’ theme.
‘Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. These are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving.’ Mahler on Symphony No.8.
For those that haven’t heard the majesty and thrill of a huge organ, this is a wonderful opportunity - Olivier Latry is one of the organists at Notre Dame in Paris and one of the very best improvisers.