Sat 8 November 2025, 7.30pm, St Cyprian’s Church, Glentworth Street, London NW1 6AX
Bach: Cantata BWV 4 ‘Christ lag in Todes Banden’
Mozart: Requiem
This is one of Bach’s earliest surviving cantatas and remains among his most powerful. Probably composed around 1707 for Easter Sunday, it is based on Martin Luther’s hymn Christ lag in Todes Banden. Each of the seven movements presents one verse of the hymn, maintaining the original text and melody, a reflection of Bach’s deep reverence for the Lutheran tradition. From the somber opening Sinfonia to the triumphant final chorale, Bach uses vivid musical imagery to underscore the drama of Easter. Chromatic lines, intense counterpoint, and dance-like rhythms serve to highlight the text’s message of Christ’s victory over death, a profound musical meditation on resurrection and renewal.
Then the Mozart Requiem. Commissioned by a masked figure, partly written by Mozart on his death bed, almost as his own Requiem, completed by his rival Salieri … no wonder it became an important element in Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus, and in the subsequent film of that name! It beauty and power are legendary and return at every performance. Come and be wowed by Mozart’s greatest music!
Helen Semple, soprano
Lydia Shariff, mezzo-soprano
John Upperton, tenor
Thomas Coltman, baritone
South London Sinfonietta
George Mattar, leader
Peter Fender, conductor
Tickets: WeGotTickets
Sat 16 May 2026, 7.30pm, St Cyprian’s Church, Glentworth Street, London NW1 6AX
Ethel Smyth: Mass in D
Ethel Smyth, known in particular for her Suffragette activities alongside Emmeline Pankhurst, composed this Mass in 1891. In doing so, she defied convention by writing a powerful, large-scale work, far from the drawing room ditties considered acceptable for a woman to compose. It shows her deep spirituality and her compositional skill in blending Romantic richness with contrapuntal mastery, reflecting influences from Brahms and Wagner whilst asserting her own voice. The Mass in D is both devotional and dramatic, moving between moments of introspection and grandeur. Don’t miss this rare performance!
Helen Semple, soprano
Lydia Shariff, mezzo-soprano
John Upperton, tenor
Jim Clements, baritone
South London Sinfonietta (George Mattar, leader)
Peter Fender, conductor
Tickets: WeGotTickets