Concert program ‘Choral Gems’ takes a journey through the development of Western choral music which, during its first thousand years, originated in the sacred music of the Christian Church.

Since the Roman Empire the Catholic Church, and later also the Church of England, held the power, resources and inspiration needed to employ the finest musicians as its composers. With motivations of devotional expression, an appreciative audience, well paid and regularly performed commissions, most of the greatest composers in history have written volumes of sacred choral music. Although now lesser known, this sacred music was the foundation of compositional work in other genres and is as masterfully written as the well loved Great Works by the same composers.

In this program we will explore one of the earliest and subsequently most prolific genres of sacred music throughout the ages, the Motet: a sacred choral composition setting non-Liturgical text, featuring harmonic parts, usually in Latin and often unaccompanied. Since the 1300s this genre has been the back bone of artistry in choral writing and the vessel for much of the most beautiful and glorious choral music written.

The Murray Conservatorium Choir invites you to join us for a fabulous program of ‘Choral Gems’; motets and more from the Masters of Sacred Music, Victoria, Byrd, Gibbons, Purcell, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Rossini, Bruckner, Elgar, Grieg, Stanford, De Séverac and Vaughan Williams.