Polish choral evening in Reading

Music sung in the mother tongue

Rehearsals are under way for Reading Bach Choir’s first concert of 2019 and, as ever, their musical director David Young is extending the chorus’s repertoire by presenting a concert of music from Poland.

Sacred music from the early 18th century composer, Gorczacki, will stand alongside pieces by living composers Lukaszewski and Roxanna Panufnik and the choir is hoping members of the Berkshire Polish community will enjoy hearing their mother tongue, set to some wonderfully diverse music.

The forested and formerly isolated province of north-eastern Poland, Kurpie, boasts its own highly- individual folk traditions and music and both Szymanowski’s Six Songs from Kurpie (1929) and Górecki’s Five Kurpian songs (1999) will also feature in this fascinating and unusual concert, both inspired by a famous 1928 collection of more than 1,000 songs. Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s setting of the Magnificat is also on the programme.

The concert will take place at 7.30pm on Saturday, February at the Sacred Heart Church in Watlington Street, Reading. Tickets are £15 (full price) with concessions and family tickets also available. To book, go to tickets@readingbachchoir.org.uk or call 0118 947 8097. The nearest parking is at the Queen’s Road car park.