FURNESS Bach Choir stage the The Surround of Music at St Mary's Parish Church, Dalton-in-Furness, on Saturday, March 21 (7.30pm).

The programme consists entirely of works written for multiple groupings of singers and members of the choir will be positioned around the church to achieve a stereophonic effect.

Among the items performed will be the famous Miserere by Allegri, written in the early 17th Century for the choir of the Sistine Chapel, who performed it annually during Holy Week. Apparently, the score was kept secret until 1840, when 14-year-old Mozart went to the Sistine Chapel, listened to the work, then went home and wrote it out from memory. It is written for five-part choir, four soloists and a men's choir, and is particularly well-known for the soprano solo which demands a series of top C's from the singer.

Also in the FBC programme is a movement from Monteverdi's Vespers, Lauda Jerusalem, a dramatic piece for two, three-part choirs and a choir of tenors. The Vespers were written almost as a show-off piece to impress a potential employer, and are full of the most amazing and dramatic music of the period.

Another piece featured is the Mass for Four Choirs by the French 17th Century composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, from which the choir perform the Kyrie and Gloria, typical French music of the time, with the four separate choirs providing a rich and magnificent texture.

From the 19th Century comes Mendelssohn's Hora Est, written in 1828 when the composer was just 19, performed by the Berlin Sing-Akademie that year. The piece is scored for four, four-part choirs; Sing-Akademie consisted of 354 singers, Furness Bach Choir performing it with a mere 40.

Meanwhile, for something totally different, FBC's musical director, Anthony Milledge, has arranged Some Enchanted Evening by Rodgers and Hammerstein for three, four-part choirs, which will also be part of the programme.

Additionally, there will be multi-part works by other composers such as Gabrieli, Schütz and Tomkins.

For further information Alison Bolt 01229 837680 or see the website.