The Endler Concert Series presents Canticum Novum Choir, orchestra and soloists, under conductor Louis van der Watt, and celebrates their 21st season of presenting sacred works for choir and orchestra in the Endler Hall, Stellenbosch. On the programme are two works complementing each other: the Gloria by Vivaldi and the San Gloria by celebrated South African composer Péter Louis van Dijk. The concluding work is Handel’s Psalm 100.

The San Gloria is a work based on San themes and is innovative in its juxtaposition of ancient Latin texts (Gloria in excelsis Deo) with the sounds of the Khoi-San culture. In the words of the composer: “This is a work which seeks to represent two totally unrelated cultures – both ancient, symbolic and relevant in their own right.”.

It is perhaps less known that Vivaldi’s Gloria, like many of his other instrumental and sacred works, was composed for, and first performed by, the orphan girls of the Ospedale della Pietà where Vivaldi taught and worked for the largest part of his life. The wonderfully sunny nature of the Gloria, with its distinctive melodies and rhythms, is characteristic of all of Vivaldi’s music, giving it an immediate and universal appeal.

Handel’s Utrecht Jubilate (Psalm 100, HWV 279) is a composition that has scarcely, if ever, been performed in South Africa. This festive work is a setting of the King James version of Psalm 100, “O be joyful in the Lord”, and promises to be an inspiring conclusion to the performance.

The concerts take place on Saturday 19 October at 8pm and Sunday 20 October at 4:30pm in the Endler Hall, Stellenbosch.

Tickets are R140 (regular) and R100 (students and pensioners) and are available through Computicket and at the door. For more information contact Fiona Grayer at concerts@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2358.