We are delighted and honoured that the Handel Institute has invited Pegasus to perform with the London Handel Orchestra on Saturday, 21 November. The institute promotes the study and appreciation of the life and music of the great composer and his 18th-century contemporaries. Its annual conference takes place in London this year from 21-23 November. The concert will be conducted by Laurence Cummings, who is director of the London Handel Orchestra and a trustee of the Handel Institute.
This will be the second time this year that Pegasus has performed with the London Handel Orchestra, having sung Handel’s Chandos Anthems and Dixit Dominus in March.
November’s concert takes place on the eve of the feast day of St Cecilia, patron saint of music and musicians, and the concert reflects this with Handel’s great Ode for St Cecilia’s Day. Handel’s music will sound particularly fine in the warm acoustic of St George’s Church, an architectural gem that was built during the time that Handel was living in London, and one that he would doubtless have been familiar with.
Also on the programme on 21 November is Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia, a ravishing setting of a text by W.H. Auden which Britten composed on board a ship that was taking him back to the UK from the United States during the second world war. Auden’s text includes a sly allusion to the young composer, whose birthday fell on St Cecilia’s Day.
The concert is open to members of the public as well as conference attendees. For full programme details and to book tickets, click here.