The Handel Society Choir and Baroque Orchestra Remembrance Day Concert

Tickets

Cost: $30.00
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An afternoon of choral and orchestral music honouring those who served and sacrificed.
Regular admission: $30
Seniors: $20
Children: Free

The concert will feature The Last Post, In Flanders Fields and I Vow to Thee, My Country, along with selections from Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Gounod’s Messe Solennelle.

Our programme exemplifies Remembrance Day’s core ideas of honouring the fallen, mourning their loss, affirming duty and patriotism, and finding solace in faith and the sacred.

- "In Flanders Fields" anchors the Canadian and WWI context—poppies, the dead, and the call to keep faith with those who gave their lives.
- "I Vow to Thee, My Country" speaks of earthly duty and sacrifice alongside the “other country” of the spirit, bridging patriotism and transcendence.
- "Introitus" and "Lacrimosa" from Mozart's Requiem, supplies the voice of collective weeping and the plea for mercy at the hour of judgment.
- Bach’s chorales and final chorus from the St Matthew Passion “Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder” deepens the meditation on redemptive suffering, tears, and quiet acceptance.
- Gounod’s beautiful and melodic "Messe solennelle" (Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus) frames the whole in liturgical language: a cry for mercy, the holiness of God, and the blessing that follows sacrifice.
- "The Last Post" This trumpet solo is the traditional military signal of the day’s end and of final rest;
- PLUS: Orchestral performance by the Handel Society Baroque Orchestra
- Handel's Beautiiful Concerto Grosso, B Flat Major, Op.3 No 2.

"This brilliant instrumental showcase has roots deeply intertwined with themes of sacrifice and reflection. Its intense third-movement fugue was borrowed by Handel directly from his sacred Brockes Passion, a work explicitly focused on suffering and grief. As we honor Remembrance Day, this concerto serves as a metaphor for the journey of remembrance. The heart of the piece—the tragic G-minor Largo—provides a somber space for us to mourn and remember the fallen. Yet, it is framed by movements of vibrant dance and community, reminding us that the ultimate goal of sacrifice is the preservation of life, light, and the enduring peace we enjoy today."
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