A PROGRAMME of sacred music makes up the final concert in its current season by St Albans Choral Society (SACS) next Saturday, June 26.

Part of the St Albans Festival, it is being held at 7.30pm at St Peter’s Church and will include works by Elgar, Bob Chilcott and Maurice Durufle.

The concert will open with the first of two anthems by Elgar, Give until the Lord, which was written in 1914 and is a setting of Psalm 29, and Great is the Lord, first performed in 1912 and a setting of Psalm 48.

Between the two anthems will be a performance of the Peace Mass by Bob Chilcott, which was first performed in Chester Cathedral 12 years ago. Scored for the upper voices of the choir with soloist and organ, it is a setting of the movement of the Ordinary of the Latin Mass but prefaced and ended in the style of plainsong.

The highlight of the programme is Durufle’s Requiem, a setting of the burial mass following a commission in 1947 and dedicated to the memory of his father. The nine movements of the mass exclude the Dies Irae which makes the piece calmer and more meditative.

The work is set for mixed choir with mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists and features Lorna Perry and Christopher Foster with organist and the society’s regular accompanist Richard Harvey. Music director George Vass conducts the concert.

Admission is �15 and �12 with concessions �12 and �10 respectively and �1 for children, available in advance from the SACS ticket line on 07884 231958 or on the door on the night. They are also available online from allaboutstalbans.com