Hereford Choral Society's winter concert takes place on Saturday, November 14 in Hereford Cathedral.

In the season of remembrance, Hereford Choral Society presents Brahms's great Ein Deutsches Requiem, which was written when the composer was only in his thirties, possibly as a response to the recent death of his mother.

Brahms compiled the libretto himself from the German Bible of Martin Luther and the work offers in turn a terrifying view of judgment,

triumphant shouts of affirmation of Resurrection hope, and other contrasting passages of deep consolation.

In the first half of the concert the chorus performs Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs. These settings of texts by George Herbert have been much loved by British audiences since their first performance at the Worcester Three Choirs Festival of 1911.

The soprano soloist for the concert is Elizabeth Watts, whose voice was described by International Record Review as ‘one of the most beautiful Britain has produced in a generation’.

A former chorister of Norwich Cathedral who studied archaeology before returning to a musical career, Elizabeth won the Song Prize at the 2007 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and the 2006 Kathleen Ferrier Award; she is currently an artist-in-residence at the Southbank Centre in London and this year her disc of Mozart arias was BBC Music Magazine’s CD of the Month and Classic FM’s CD of the Week.

Baritone soloist Marcus Farnsworth won the Song Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 2011 and the Wigmore Hall Song Prize in 2009. His long list of credits on the concert and opera stage includes a recent acclaimed performance as Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek; Rupert Christiansen of the Daily Telegraph wrote that ‘he conveys the character’s anger, panic and perky charm with intensity and empathy.’

Tickets available online at herefordchoralsociety.org or at courtyard.org.uk.