GREAT choral masterpieces will be performed by St Albans Choral Society in the Abbey next Saturday evening, April 17. Works by Haydn, JS Bach and Mozart will be performed in the concert which starts at 7.30pm. Haydn s setting of the Te Deum was first perf

GREAT choral masterpieces will be performed by St Albans Choral Society in the Abbey next Saturday evening, April 17.

Works by Haydn, JS Bach and Mozart will be performed in the concert which starts at 7.30pm.

Haydn's setting of the Te Deum was first performed in September, 1800, during the visit to Eisenstadt of Nelson and Lady Hamilton and was directed by the composer himself.

The setting is the later of two by Haydn and is in three contrasting sections - opening in a mood of praise, darkness in the second phase and returning to the optimism of the Resurrection in the third.

Bach's setting of the Magnificat expresses the joy experienced by the Virgin Mary in words from St Luke's Gospel. The composer's setting was intended for high feast days and was probably written first of all for Christmas in 1723.

Bach later re-wrote it to make it suitable for other feast days and to accommodate more modern instruments.

Mozart's unfinished C minor Mass was first performed in Salzburg in October 1783 and it owed much to contemporary opera, being divided into short, self-contained sections of solo arias and choruses in a variety of style.

It established the tradition of ending the Gloria with an extended Amen fugue which brings the movement to an exhilarating close.

St Albans Choral Society (SACS) is joined by soprano Pippa Goss, mezzo Clare McCaldin, countertenor William Purefoy, tenor Jeremy Budd and baritone Michael Bundy with Orchestra Nova. The concert is director by the society's regular director of music George Vass.

Admission is �21, �17, �13 and �5 unreserved and tickets are available from the SACS ticket line on 07884 231958 or from the information desk at the Abbey on 01727 869780. Alternatively visit the SACS website at www.choralsociety.com