Kendal South Choir perform Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Te Deum on Saturday, May 10 (7.30pm) at St Thomas’s Church, Kendal.

Soloists sharing the stage with Ian Thompson’s choir singing the celebratory program are Jacqueline Pischorn, soprano; Anne-Marie Kerr, alto; Christopher Trenholme, tenor and Ian Caddy, bass-baritone, accompanied by strings, brass, timpani and organ.

The arrival of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton at the royal house of Esterhazy, in1800, was the catalyst for a truly historic musical occasion, which has inspired Kendal South Choir’s latest concert.

The Empress of Austria had a good voice and would repeatedly ask Haydn to compose church music, but Prince Esterhazy was reluctant to allow his famous employee to write for anyone but himself.

Marie Therese finally got her way, and Haydn’s Te Deum, a magnificent choral drama, was written for her. Its first recorded performance was for Lord Nelson’s arrival at Eisenstadt. And performed in his honour, was the mass that already had his name. In 1798 Napoleon seemed poised to conquer the world, when Missa in Angustiis - a mass for troubled times was written. At its premiere, the news of dramatic defeat of the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile arrived in Vienna, and the work was nicknamed the Nelson Mas’. Arguably Haydn’s single greatest composition, he said that his faith was best expressed in feelings of happiness and joy.

The concert will also include the soloists singing Haydn's early Salve Regina in G minor and Ian Thompson will play Handel's Organ Concerto in B flat.

Tickets are available from choir members, or Turning Point, 121 Highgate, Kendal.

Kendal South Choir welcomes new members, especially tenors and basses, to join them in September, for rehearsals of Handel’s Messiah.