Handel - Ode for St Cecelia’s Day and Bach Magnificat - Vox Luminis - Saint-Denis Festival

28 May 2026, 20:00
I travelled from the Göttingen Händel Festival to Malonne in Belgium on 26 May 2026, during a spell of particularly warm weather, to play first trumpet in Vox Luminis’ rehearsals ahead of a concert on Thursday 28 May 2026 at the Saint-Denis Festival in Paris. 

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The programme featured Handel’s Ode for St Cecelia’s Day (HWV 74) and Bach’s Magnificat in D (BWV 243). Vox Luminis were joined by excellent soloists including Rachel Redmond and Michael Spyres; I recorded a CD, entitled In the Shadows, with the latter and Les Talens Lyriques in 2022.

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It was great to play in Festival Saint-Denis and particularly in the Basilique Cathédrale Saint-Denis, where many of France’s former kings and queens are buried. The resplendent acoustic was particularly good to play in, and it was beautiful, even quite moving, to hear the music accompanied by a resident black redstart.

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Russell Gilmour
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