Handel ‘Messiah’
Handel’s Messiah is unquestionably the most enduringly popular choral work of all time, and one which Canterbury Choral Society has performed with power and conviction over the years. They will be joined by four soloists, all established names in the field of early music, and the famous Hanover Band, specialising in performing on period instruments from the 18th Century.
Canterbury Choral Society
The Hanover Band
Richard Cooke, conductor
Emma Walshe, soprano
Alexander Chance, counter-tenor
Thomas Elwin, tenor
Benjamin Bevan, bass
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This event is organised, managed and delivered
by Canterbury Choral Society.
“Strings are gleaming and engaged, their woodwind sublime, their brass bright and flexible, their percussion alert….”
HANOVER (Not Hannover; Germany) In terms of British history the majority of the music we play is from the Hanoverian period. Hanover also refers to Hanover Square in London, where Haydn performed his symphonies and arias in the Salomon Concerts in the 1790’s.
BAND (ref: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians)
‘An instrumental ensemble, larger than a chamber ensemble. Thus the ’24 violins’ of Louis XIV were called ‘la grande bande’ to distinguish them from Lully’s ‘petits violons’, and Charles II’s similar ensemble was known as ‘the King’s Band’. By extension, ‘band’ came to mean an orchestra in colloquial British usage’.
THE HANOVER BAND a period name for a period orchestra.