Bach and Handel: Baroque Brilliance

Saturday 21, March 2026, 3:00 pm

St Mary's Church, Lace Market, Nottingham

For our Spring concert, Nottingham Bach Choir will collaborate once again with the excellent St Mary's Children's Choir to present three masterworks from the high Baroque. Handel's Zadok the Priest was composed for the coronation of George II in 1727 and has been sung at every British coronation since, whilst the Foundling Hospital Anthem reflects a rather different side of Handel's life in London; written in 1749 for the opening of the chapel of the Foundling Hospital for orphaned or abandoned children, it also draws on several movements from earlier compositions (including one that you are guaranteed to know!).

Completing the programme is Bach's sublime Cantata No. 21 "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis", first performed in Weimar in 1714. One of Bach's most expansive and carefully crafted cantatas, it traces an emotional journey from anxiety and sorrow to confidence and exuberant joy.  Join us and experience this life-affirming music!