Ashford Choral Society presents...

Ashford Choral Society, with full orchestra and professional soloists, will perform Beethoven’s Mass in C (1807) and Poulenc’s Gloria (1959) – two glorious, but very different works, equal in their radical approach to sacred choral music.

When Beethoven’s Mass was played for its’ patron, Prince Nicolaus Esterhazy, the Prince let Beethoven know his displeasure – having expected something more akin to his teacher, Haydn. Likewise, when Poulenc’s work was first played in 1961, the words from the Mass are set to music of such freshness and vivacity that some critics suggested that it bordered on the sacrilegious. The critic, Claude Rostand, described Poulenc as “moine ou voyou” (“half yob, half monk”) describing the polarity between Poulenc’s devout Catholic faith and other aspects of his character. Today audiences will recognise and enjoy both these works as masterpieces of glorious choral and orchestral writing.