Dvorák's Mass in D major

Dvorák’s Mass in D was originally composed for organ and choir, without soloists, in 1887 at the request of Josef Hlávka, founder of the Czech academy of Arts and Sciences, for the consecration of a new private chapel. It was the first time he had composed a religious work on such a small scale, and the result pleased him enormously. His usual publishers, however, had different ideas, and in response to numerous rejections, Dvorák rescored the Mass in 1892 for a large-scale performance with full orchestra and soloists. The original didn’t resurface again until 1988, when it was finally published for the first time.

It is this version that the South West London Choral Society will be performing in the beautiful setting of St. Anne’s Church, Wandsworth. There is no doubt that the music benefits from being heard as the composer first conceived it, conjuring beautiful pastoral images of rustic chapels in rural Czech idylls. What Dvorák creates with such modest forces is rather exquisite, and we are delighted to be presenting a rare opportunity to hear it in its original form.

The programme is completed by a selection of French motets that similarly create a beautiful sound far exceeding the sum of their parts, as well as a majestic setting of the Magnificat by the Society’s Music Director, Martin Everett.