Mozart – Coronation Mass & Clarinet Concerto & Britten – Rejoice in the Lamb

Southampton Philharmonic Choir & Southampton University Philharmonic Choir

To celebrate the centenary of Benjamin Britten, the Southampton Philharmonic honours the outstanding English composer of the 20th century with a performance of Rejoice in the Lamb. This festival Cantata is a setting of words by the eighteenth century poet Christopher Smart; deeply religious but of a strange and unbalanced mind. The poem was written whilst Smart was in an asylum and, although chaotic and eccentric, it contains flashes of genius. Britten’s score matches the text perfectly with wit and originality.

Mozart, a great influence on Benjamin Britten, wrote the quintessential Clarinet Concerto for the newly developed instrument at the end of his short life. It has remained not only the outstanding concerto for that instrument, but probably the most popular concerto of all time. The sublime slow movement, in particular, is one of the most appealing movements in the repertoire; yearning, passionate and intense. Enjoy this rare opportunity of hearing it performed by internationally-renowned soloist, Julian Bliss, on a basset clarinet – the instrument for which it was composed.

The Coronation Mass is one of the composer’s most joyous and optimistic works, full of good humour, sprightly rhythms and glorious tunes. The concluding Soprano solo in the Agnus Dei is justly renowned as a truly sublime moment of eighteenth century music.