Elisabeth Croft marked her return from maternity leave with a blazing, large scale orchestral concert. The main item on the programme was Haydn’s ‘Nelson Mass’.

This vibrant half hour work, written ‘in Angustiis’ (in Times of Trouble), is considered one of Haydn’s masterpieces. All the movements in the mass except one are choral in some respect, with the solo singers in constant dialogue with the choir. Our performance split the demanding and sometimes virtuosic solos amongst seventeen different members of Cantorum. And we have plenty more ‘on the bench’, so to speak, to call on—which is a very strong position for any choir to find itself in. Yes, we feel very fortunate that our group is highly gifted and at the same time inclusive and democratic. The whole performance was both powerful and professionally executed.

It was a great pleasure and privilege to be able to showcase young musician Jack Jones (Trumpet) in Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto. This piece is always very popular; Jack’s sound was glorious and his interpretation exciting. He clearly has a long and successful career to look forward to.
The concert opened with the intense seven minute ‘Te Deum’ for choir and orchestra, which Mozart wrote when he was only thirteen. It is a thrill to sing—as one would expect of so astonishing a composer!