Sing & Discover: Handel: Solomon

Saturday 5th August | 11.00-17:00 |
St Michael's Church, Lewes | Tickets £30

In this live workshop, conductor and singer John Hancorn and writer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore explore Handel's Solomon. We shall look at the music in some detail while participants will join in with the choruses.

​

Richard Wigmore writes:

"Handel pulled out all the stops for Solomon, premiered at Covent Garden in March 1749. An idealisation of kingship and an Augustan golden age, this grandest of his oratorios gives glorious opportunities to the choir: from majestic double choruses to the shimmering, sensuous 'Nightingale' Chorus that crowns the love scene between Solomon and his Egyptian bride. In the final act Solomon entertains a goggle-eyed Queen of Sheba in a gorgeous, Cecilian-style celebration of the power of music - perhaps a covert reminder to King George II that enlightened artistic patronage was central to a civilised society."

​

Sing & Discover workshops are for choral singers, choirs and music lovers who wish to broaden their range, extend their experience, increase their knowledge of style and context, and who enjoy a challenge. 

​

Schedule:

10.30 - 11.00  Registration

11.00 – 13.00  Morning session

13.00 – 14.15  Lunch (there are plenty of places to eat in Lewes or 

                                                   bring a packed lunch)

14.15 – 17.00  Afternoon session (with tea break)

​

Cost: £30 (includes hire of vocal score).

 

John Hancorn is a conductor, baritone and workshop leader. He is music director of the BREMF Singers, Baroque Collective Singers, East Sussex Bach Choir, Eastbourne Choral Society and the Croydon Bach Choir. John leads workshops and masterclasses specialising in baroque repertoire including regular visits to Early Music Fora. He is Associate Lecturer in Choral Studies at the University of Chichester and a specialist examiner for Trinity Laban.

​

Richard Wigmore is a writer, broadcaster and distinguished musicologist, following a career as a professional singer. He writes regularly for Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, gives regular pre-concert talks, appears frequently on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review and lectures regularly in Salzburg, Vienna and elsewhere on Martin Randall cultural tours. Richard’s publications include Schubert: the complete song texts and the Faber Pocket Guide to Haydn.

We shall be singing at modern concert pitch (A=440Hz) with live piano accompaniment from Nicholas Houghton.