Hymns of Praise | Gravesham Choral Society

The Te Deum is a magnificent and joyous work, brilliantly setting the early Christian Latin hymn of praise to the almighty. It was composed at the request of the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and first performed on 8 September 1800 at Eisenstadt, probably during Horatio Nelson’s visit there.

Ode for St Cecilia’s Day is scored for soprano and tenor soloists, chorus and orchestra. One of its twelve short movements is entitled “What passion cannot music raise and quell”. It was in 1683 that London’s musicians first celebrated the feast day (22 November) of their patron saint, St Cecilia. In 1739, by now well ensconced in London and alive to its musical traditions, Handel composed his Ode for St Cecilia’s Day with words by John Dryden.

The exhilarating cantata Hymn of Praise by Mendelssohn, was written in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing! We will be singing the cantata in English (rather than using the German Lutheran text), using words prepared by Alfred Novello in 1840 for the Birmingham Festival.