Schicksalslied und Lobgesang

Please note the change of conductor:
Due to his extremely demanding tour schedule – comprising seven concerts in five countries within two weeks – Sir John Eliot Gardiner has asked the Musikfest Bremen to release him from his engagement on 28 August. The young British conductor Finan Jones, Gardiner’s assistant, will take over the baton for the scheduled programme. Tickets already purchased remain valid.

The Constellation Choir & Orchestra
Hilary Cronin and Sam Cobb soprano
Jonathan Hanley tenor
Finan Jones conductor (instead of Sir John Eliot Gardiner)

Programme:
Johannes Brahms: »Schicksalslied« (Song of Destiny), Op. 54, for mixed choir and orchestra
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 52, »Lobgesang« (Hymn of Praise)

Founded in 2024 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, The Constellation Choir & Orchestra is a a new collective of leading international singers and instrumentalists. They bring with them two seminal choral works of the Romantic era. In »Schicksalslied« (Song of Destiny), Brahms masterfully captures the contrasting worlds of divine and human existence in a setting of a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin. The »Lobgesang« (Hymn of Praise) was written for the 1840 Leipzig festivities marking the 400th anniversary of the invention of the printing press. Mendelssohn Bartholdy vividly depicts the consequences of Gutenberg’s accomplishment as a victory of light over darkness – with three instrumental parts and a dominant fourth vocal movement featuring arias, duets and choruses. While the composers themselves held them in high regard, today these works are rather unfairly often overshadowed by their other compositions,. At their Bremen debut, The Constellation Choir & Orchestra, conducted by Finan Jones, will reveal the full splendour of these two masterpieces.

supported by the Karin und Uwe Hollweg Stiftung