Mayfield Festival Choir and the Ripieno Players directed by Jeremy Summerly

Charles Gounod’s delightful nonet (‘Little Symphony’) went down a storm at its first performance in Paris in 1885, mainly because it’s pretty and lovely to listen to.

Bruckner’s Mass in E minor is altogether bigger and more austere, and had to wait three years after the date of its composition before it was premièred in 1869. It was first performed outdoors, because the building for which it was written still hadn’t been finished. Mayfield is fortunate in having a church that was completed some years ago.

This was performed as part of the 2024 Mayfield Festival of Music and the Arts in a programme also included Gounoud’s Petite Symphonie.