Franz Joseph Haydn's secular oratorio, first performed in 1801, paints musical pictures of the joys and sorrows of human endeavours, and of nature itself, in the colours of our planet's natural cycles. (Listen for the sounds of croaking frogs and an approaching thunderstorm!).

The work, amongst Haydn's last, took him 3 years to complete; a task that he said nearly broke his back. But this master orchestrator outdid even himself—his instrumentation of the piece from beginning to end is breathtakingly beautiful, and its harmonies are more daring than anything except "Chaos" in his better-known work, The Creation.

Peter Butterfield conducts the 70 member choir, orchestra, and soloists Jennifer Turner, Isaiah Bell, and Stephen Hegedus, who sing the roles of archetypal country folk.
Doors will open at 6:30 for a 6:50 pm talk by renowned musician/lecturer Robert Holliston. Festival seating.
This concert is presented alongside an art installation, FOR THE SEASONS, of sculpture, drawings and more, which will be open to the public during the week before the performance. Details at vpchoir.ca/upcoming