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Elder conducts A Mass of Life

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Proms 2025

Live at the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Proms: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, LPO Chorus plus starry soloists conducted by Sir Mark Elder in Delius's exhilarating A Mass of Life.

Live at the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Proms: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, LPO Chorus plus starry soloists conducted by Sir Mark Elder in Delius's exhilarating A Mass of Life.

Presented by Martin Handley at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Frederick Delius: A Mass of Life

Interval: The writer and musicologist Daniel Grimley joins Martin Handley to discuss the genesis of Delius's musical response to the prose of the great German philosopher Nietzsche.

Jennifer Davis (soprano)
Claudia Huckle (contralto)
David Butt Philip (tenor)
Roderick Williams (baritone)
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Chorus
London Philharmonic Choir
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder (conductor)

‘No other English composer offers more beauty in sound,’ Thomas Beecham said of Delius. There’s no more extravagant, impassioned or overwhelming a canvas for that beauty than A Mass of Life. Taking Nietzsche’s rapturous prose-poem Also sprach Zarathustra as a starting point, Delius imagined a secular Mass – a cantata for orchestra, chorus and soloists celebrating the transcendent power and triumph of the human spirit in the face of death.

4 days left to listen

2 hours, 29 minutes

Last on

Mon 18 Aug 2025 19:30
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Frederick Delius

    A Mass of Life - Part 1

    Performer: Jennifer Davis. Performer: Claudia Huckle. Performer: David Butt Philip. Performer: Roderick Williams. Choir: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Chorus. Choir: London Philharmonic Choir. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Mark Elder.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony No. 3 in D Minor: IV. Sehr langsam. Misterioso (Live): extract

    Lyricist: Friedrich Nietzsche. Lyricist: Trad.. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Singer: Gerhild Romberger. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.
    • Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 3, 4 & 9 (Live).
    • BR-Klassik.
    • 4.

  • Frederick Delius

    Noch ein mal

    Composer: Friedrich Nietzsche. Performer: Stephen Barlow. Singer: Mark Stone.
    • Stone Records.

  • Frederick Delius

    A Mass of Life - Part 2

    Performer: Jennifer Davis. Performer: Claudia Huckle. Performer: David Butt Philip. Performer: Roderick Williams. Choir: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Chorus. Choir: London Philharmonic Choir. Orchestra: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Mark Elder.

Broadcast

  • Mon 18 Aug 2025 19:30
    ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3

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