“Haydn and Handel – From Trafalgar to Westminster”

Returning to the classical repertoire for its Winter Concert this year, the Hudson Valley Chorale, under the baton of its Artistic Director, Michael Haigler, will present two very well-loved selections. The program will open with Zaydok the Priest, by G.F. Handel, also known as his Coronation Anthem #1. Although Handel wrote several other coronation anthems, Zaydok the Priest has been sung at every English monarch’s coronation since that of King George II in 1727, for whom the anthem was written.

In a lighter vein, an orchestral interlude follows with a rendition of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. The “pièce-de-résistance” completing the program will be Joseph Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis (Mass in Troubled Times) otherwise known as the Lord Nelson Mass (Hob. XXII/11). The Nelson Mass has been called by some, Haydn’s “greatest composition.” Its nickname was probably acquired due to the synchronicity of the Mass’s first performance with the news that Napoleon had been handed a recent defeat by British naval forces under the command of Admiral Horatio Nelson.

The winter concert will also feature chamber orchestra and soloists.

The concert will take place on Sunday, January 20, 2019 at 3pm in the Chapel at Dominican Convent, located at 175 Route 340, Sparkill, NY. Tickets are $20 each and can be ordered by phone at (845) 598-6749 or via email at hudsonvalleychorale@gmail.com.