Saturday 8 July 2023 at 7:30pm
Sherborne Abbey

Join us for the final concert in our season and enjoy music for a summer’s evening in the spectacular setting of Sherborne Abbey.

including
Brahms A German Requiem

Pianists David Bednall & Simon Clarkson
Soprano Katharine Hawnt
Bass Tom Butler

Beat the airport queues and join us in the Abbey as we embark on a musical journey across Europe, from France to Lithuania, Germany to Norway, by composers from the fifteenth century to the present day. No politics – just great music!

The main work will be Brahms’ uplifting setting of the Requiem. Written for ‘all humanity’ and filled with soaring melody, its progression from suffering to consolation makes it a work of drama, emotion and hope. We’re joined by not one but two accompanists, in the setting with piano duet accompaniment, played on the Abbey’s wonderful new grand piano. Brahms himself made the transcription for duet, for a private performance of the Requiem in London in 1871 and it is often known as the ‘London’ version.

Our regular accompanist Simon Clarkson will be joined by our old friend, composer, organist and pianist David Bednall, who composed our anniversary commission of the Advent Antiphons and was the Abbey’s first organ scholar.

Our full programme:

Johannes Brahms (Germany) 1833–1897 A German Requiem

Edvard Grieg (Norway) 1843–1907 Ave maris stella
Heinrich Isaac (Netherlands) 1450–1517 Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen
Leonardo Leo (Italy) 1694–1744 Heu nos miseros
Vytautas Miškinis (Lithuania) b. 1954 Angelis suis Deus
Knut Nystedt (Norway) 1915–2014 Immortal Bach
Francis Poulenc (France) 1899–1963 Exultate Deo
Henry Purcell (UK) 1659–1695 Fairest Isle