Collegium Musicum Of London Chamber Choir

Wren’s architectural gem, St James’s in the heart of London’s Piccadilly, provides a perfect period setting for this bravura programme, which revels in the musical splendour of early eighteenth-century Dresden’s court of Augustus the Strong of Saxony, with its enduring musical connections to Venice.

J. S. Bach’s joyful motet Singet dem Herrn was a birthday gift from the composer to Augustus.

Antonio Lotti, unjustly neglected today, was for many years employed as organist at St Mark’s in Venice, while maintaining a long–term professional link with the Dresden court, which commissioned this far-from-sombre Requiem. Taking full advantage of the musical resources available at Dresden, and the inherent drama of the text, Lotti packed his Requiem with variety and contrasts. Its descriptive, dramatic qualities leave us in no doubt why Lotti was also revered as a master composer of Italian opera.

As Lotti is unknown so Vivaldi is ubiquitous, his music being the epitome of gioia di vivere. The exuberant Magnificat was originally composed for the church of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, but such was the work’s immediate appeal that it too soon found its way into the repertoire of the Dresden court chapel.

CML is excited to be presenting a new edition of the Lotti, edited by Ben Byram-Wigfield, who will give a brief talk during the concert