Victoria, BC — The Victoria Choral Society, under Music Director Brian Wismath and with accompaniment by members of the Victoria Symphony, will present Mozart’s Requiem, Laudate Dominum, and Ave Verum Corpus at Christ Church Cathedral at 2:30 pm on Saturday, November 16th, 2024. The program features four soloists: soprano Jennifer Turner, mezzo Jennifer Lang, tenor Jan van der Hooft, and bass Nathan McDonald. Tickets are available at the door or online starting October 1st at https://www.victoriachoralsociety.ca/concerts/
In celebration of our 90th Anniversary, we are offering VCS Alumni a complimentary ticket. Please contact membership@victoriachoralsociety.ca by September 30, 2024 to claim your complimentary ticket.
Unfinished at the time of Mozart’s death in 1791, “[…] the Requiem Mass for the Dead, arguably the most potent and all-embracing of the Church’s liturgical rites, encompasses the whole range of human emotion from terror and awe to confidence that the dead can indeed depart in peace. Mozart’s music takes us deep into the human condition with pleas to be heard and comforted (Voca me), pleas for healing (Salva me), finding the still centre in the rest (Requiem) at the end of tears (Lacrimosa) […]” – Elizabeth Courtney, VCS Alumna
The Laudate Dominum from Mozart’s 1780 opera, “Vesperae solennes de Confessore K. 339,” is one of his masterpieces. Set as an extended aria, its radiantly poised melody of long, luxurious lines for solo soprano, answered and supported by the chorus, breathes an inward spiritual air.
Ave Verum Corpus was composed in 1791, six months before Mozart’s death. This short motet of 46 measures is a choral gem recognized for its beauty and simplicity. The text, a 14th century Eucharist hymn, contemplates suffering and redemption, while elements of the composition foreshadow his magnificent Requiem.
