We're signing off X for now, but the music continues elsewhere. You can still keep up with all things Opus 48 on Facebook, Instagram, our mailing list and our website. Thanks for following along. See you on the other side 👋 opus48choir.co.uk/

It may still be our summer break but that doesn't mean we are just sipping cocktails by the pool (well, maybe one ..!) - we are deep into prep for our #ComeAndSing on Sat 12th Sept. Ease yourself into the season & join us! #Howells #VaughanWilliams opus48choir.co.uk/come-and-s…

Tonight, Opus 48 presents 'Voices of Light' at @SMVOxford - an evening of sacred choral music by Parry, Balfour Gardiner, Dvořák, Vierne and Pärt. We can’t wait to share this music with you. Any spare tickets on the door from 7pm. #VoicesOfLight #Oxford #ChoralMusic

Last chance to book online for Voices of Light this Friday. Parry, Balfour Gardiner, Dvořák, Vierne & Pärt at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford. 🎟 ticketsource.com/opus48choir #VoicesOfLight #Choralmusic #Oxford @SMVOxford

Less than a week! 🎶 @opus48choir MD, David Crown, shares the inspiration behind these repertoire choices, which of theses pieces has moved him during rehearsals and what you can expect from this incredible breadth of repertoire. 👏 #VoicesofLight #Oxford youtube.com/watch?v=uaZDoJ-D…

Arvo Pärt's The Beatitudes sets Christ's Sermon on the Mount. The work unfolds with remarkable simplicity, but beneath the surface the pitch rises steadily throughout, creating tension. That contrast between contemplation and intensity makes it one of Pärt's most admired works.

Vierne's Messe solennelle was first performed at Saint-Sulpice, Paris in 1901 and remains one of the landmarks of the French sacred repertoire. Originally written for choir and 2 organs, the first performance with Vierne himself at the choir organ and Widor at the great organ.

Dvořák's Mass in D was composed in 1887 for the consecration of a new chapel at Lužany, commissioned by Josef Hlávka, one of the Czech lands' most important patrons of the arts. The work is more intimate in scale than many nineteenth-century Mass settings, and remains popular.

Henry Balfour Gardiner was one of the great champions of British music, supporting composers including Holst, Grainger and Bax at crucial stages in their careers. His Evening Hymn (1908), setting words from a Compline hymn, remains his best-known work.

Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens was commissioned by Stanford for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and premiered in 1887. Setting Milton’s At a Solemn Musick, it helped establish Parry as a leading voice of the English Musical Renaissance. 🎟 ticketsource.com/opus48choir #Parry