Haydn NELSON MASS
Willcocks A GREAT and GLORIOUS VICTORY
Saturday 16 November 2024 at 7.30pm
St John’s Church Ranmoor S10 3GX
Sheffield Bach Choir opened the season with Haydn’s wonderful Nelson Mass, written in 1798 when Haydn was nearing the end of his life and at the peak of his powers. Austria had been defeated by Napoleon in four battles at the time of writing, and Haydn referred to the work as ‘A Mass for troubled times’. However, Nelson defeated Napoleon shortly before the first performance, and this coincidence led to the name by which the work became widely known. The opening depicts danger and agitation, while the drama of later movements calls to mind triumphant victory.
Also on the programme was A Great and Glorious Victory by conductor and composer Jonathan Willcocks, whose works have been published and widely performed across the world.
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- National Festival Orchestra
- Peter Heginbotham – organ
- Jane Burnell – soprano
- Ailsa Mainwaring – alto
- Nicholas Watts – tenor
- William Burn – bass
- Philip Collin – conductor
Tickets cost £18 (adults) £16 (concessions) and £8 (students); children under 12 accompanied by a ticket holder were FREE.
HANDEL – MESSIAH
Monday 9 December 2024 at 7pm
Sheffield Cathedral S1 1HA
Completed in just 24 days, Handel’s Messiah is one of the most glorious and popular choral works.
The Sheffield Bach Choir was pleased to be able to present our annual rendition of Handel’s marvellous oratorio, accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra with four outstanding soloists.
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- National Festival Orchestra
- Ruth Nicholson – continuo
- Jane Burnell – soprano
- Beth Mackay – alto
- Warren Gillespie – tenor
- Ross McInroy – bass
- Philip Collin – Conductor
Tickets cost £18 (adults) £15 (concessions) and £8 (students); children under 12 accompanied by a ticket holder were FREE.
COME SING MESSIAH
Monday 16 December 2024 at 7.30pm
St James’ Church Norton
The Choir was pleased to be able to present our popular Come and Sing Messiah this season. President George Nicholson conducted and Music Director Philip Collin played the organ. Soloists were from the choir of St John’s Ranmoor.
Tickets cost £15 including mulled wine and mince pies; scores were available to hire. This is always a fun evening for those who love to sing Messiah – and this year was no exception. A full church sang their hearts out!
BACH – St MATTHEW PASSION
Saturday 15 March 2025 at 6.30pm
Sheffield Cathedral S1 1HA
The choir was pleased to present Bach’s St Matthew Passion in the original German, at Sheffield cathedral. Written in 1727 and featuring double choir and double orchestra, this is one of Bach’s most complex works, widely considered a masterpiece of Baroque music. It narrates Christ’s Passion as told in the Gospel of St Matthew. The story is told by soloists and chorus, punctuated by hymn tunes that would have been familiar to congregations of the time. This magnificent work is at once a sober and fitting preparation for Easter and also a superb example of Bach’s glorious composition for orchestra and voices.
- Sheffield Bach Choir
- National Festival Orchestra
- Stephen Liley – Evangelist
- David Bonar – Christ
- Zoë Brookshaw
- Catherine Backhouse
- William Burn
- St John’s Ranmoor and Steel City Choristers – Ripieno chorus
- Philip Collin – conductor
Tickets cost £18 (adults) £16 (concessions) and £8 (students); children under 12 accompanied by a ticket holder were FREE.
IF YOU LIKE THAT – YOU’LL LOVE THIS!
Saturday 21 June 2025 at 7.30pm
St Marks Broomhill S10 2SE
Conductor Philip Collin put together a programme of works for this concert which, as befits our 75th anniversary year, included two settings of The Spirit
of the Lord – a lesser known one by Norman Barnes, the founding conductor of the choir and music teacher at King Edward VII school, and well-known setting of the same text by Edward Elgar.
The programme consisted of paired works by Handel, Bach, Franck, Holst and Parry, including popular favourites Nimrod from Enigma Variations, Zadok the Priest and Jerusalem.
- Zadok the Priest – G F Handel
- The King shall rejoice – G F Handel
- Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – J S Bach
- Christ lag in Todesbanden – J S Bach (1st movement)
- Panis Angelicus – César Franck
- Psalm 150 – César Franck
- Nimrod (from Enigma Variations) – Edward Elgar (organ)
- The Spirit of the Lord – Edward Elgar
- The spirit of the Lord – Norman Barnes
- Jupiter (from The Planets) – Gustav Holst, arr. Peter Petrof (organ)
- Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda – Gustav Holst
- Never Weather-Beaten Sail – Hubert Parry
- Jerusalem – Hubert Parry
Sheffield Bach Choir
James Mitchell -piano and organ
Phillip Collin – conductor
Tickets cost £18 (adults) £16 (concessions) and £8 (students); children under 12 accompanied by a ticket holder were FREE.
Sheffield Bach Society 