Oxford Harmonic Choir: Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio, Finzi In Terra Pax at Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford on Saturday 29th November 2025

Please note: This concert is in the past and has already taken place.

Oxford Harmonic Choir

Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio, Finzi In Terra Pax

Add to my Calendar 29-11-2025 19:30 29-11-2025 21:30 36 Oxford Harmonic Choir We celebrate Christmas this year with 4 lesser-known works from 3 very contrasting traditions. Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël (1858) is delicate and pastoral, with impressively rich instrumental colours despite the small size of the orchestra used. Gerald Finzi’s In terra pax (Peace on Earth, 1954) is as wintry as it is quintessentially English, but is filled with glimmers of light that shine through its general atmosphere of wistful nostalgia. Max Bruch’s Gruß an die heilige Nacht (Greeting to the Holy Night, 1892) uses huge chords to create a subdued, reverent atmosphere entirely appropriate to the significance of Christ’s Nativity. Lastly, the arrangement of several well-known carols that is Gustav Holst’s Christmas Day (1910) offers a seasonal dose of comforting familiarity. Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford DD/MM/YYYY

Details

Sheldonian Theatre
Broad Street
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX1 3AZ
England

Saturday 29th November 2025
7:30 PM

Programme

Camille Saint-Saëns – Christmas Oratorio: Benedictus
Gustav Holst – Christmas Day (Choral Fantasy on Old Carols), H.109
Max Bruch – Gruss an die Heilige Nacht, Op.62
Gerald Finzi – In Terra Pax, Op.39

Performers

Jeni Bern – soprano
Lauren Young – mezzo-soprano
Rhonda Browne – Alto
Robyn Lyn Evans – Baritone / Tenor
Samuel Pantcheff – baritone
Robert Secret – Conductor

Oxford Harmonic Choir
Orchestra of Stowe Opera

Programme Note

We celebrate Christmas this year with 4 lesser-known works from 3 very contrasting traditions. Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël (1858) is delicate and pastoral, with impressively rich instrumental colours despite the small size of the orchestra used. Gerald Finzi’s In terra pax (Peace on Earth, 1954) is as wintry as it is quintessentially English, but is filled with glimmers of light that shine through its general atmosphere of wistful nostalgia. Max Bruch’s Gruß an die heilige Nacht (Greeting to the Holy Night, 1892) uses huge chords to create a subdued, reverent atmosphere entirely appropriate to the significance of Christ’s Nativity. Lastly, the arrangement of several well-known carols that is Gustav Holst’s Christmas Day (1910) offers a seasonal dose of comforting familiarity.

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