Duruflé Requiem and four centuries of choral masterpieces

Hertfordshire Chorus is excited to present a varied concert spanning nearly four centuries of sacred choral music in the beautiful and historic surroundings of Ripon Cathedral.

The programme includes three 17th century masterpieces: two well known psalm settings by Claudio Monteverdi, Beatus Vir and Dixit Dominus, and Gregorio Allegri’s famous Miserere, composed for the Sistine Chapel.

From the 19th century we perform Robert Pearsall’s haunting setting of Lay a Garland, and Abendlied, a sacred motet by Josef Rheinberger.

Premiered in 1947, and dedicated to the memory of his father, Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem represents his ideals of peace, faith and hope. Composed amid the terrors of wartime France, Duruflé endeavoured “to convey the feelings of human beings faced with their terrifying, inexplicable or comforting fate”. Based on themes from Gregorian plainchant, he created one of the most atmospheric choral masterpieces of the 20th century.

Hertfordshire Chorus is known for commissioning new music, high-quality yet passionate singing, tackling difficult, rarely performed music as well as much-loved and well-known pieces and is one of the UK’s finest symphonic choirs.

Tickets: £25 standard, £5 schoolchildren and students

Please contact the organiser with with regards to accessible seating.