Nathaniel Dett's The Ordering of Moses
Coventry Cathedral, Coventry, CV1 5AB
Saturday 31st October 2026 7:30PM
We are proud to present Nathaniel Dett's oratorio The Ordering of Moses.
'Go down, Moses, Way down in Egypt’s Land;
Tell Pharaoh: “Let my people go!”'
The rich, emotional orchestration of this choral masterpiece offers a portrait of Moses as a young man, a shepherd on a hillside, who hears Jehovah call to him out of the burning bush and delivers the Israelites through the Red Sea, in a brilliant fusion of European classical oratorio and African American Spiritual traditions.
As one of the twentieth century's most significant black composers, Dett was among the first to use the musical language of the African-American Spiritual to create large scale classical compositions, bringing together the richness of the Spiritual tradition and the forms and ambitions of the concert hall.
As the finale of Coventry Cathedral's Black History Month, this will be a very special concert performed by Coventry Cathedral Chorus, Divertimento and Royal Leamington Spa Bach Choir, 150 voices in all - plus soloists and full orchestral accompaniment by Leamington Sinfonia.
The Ordering of Moses
Nathaniel Dett
Love Let the Wind Cry
Watch and Pray
Undine Smith-Moore
Ballade in A Minor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Conducted by:
Jim Bate
Michael Karcher-Young
'Go down, Moses, Way down in Egypt’s Land;
Tell Pharaoh: “Let my people go!”'
The rich, emotional orchestration of this choral masterpiece offers a portrait of Moses as a young man, a shepherd on a hillside, who hears Jehovah call to him out of the burning bush and delivers the Israelites through the Red Sea, in a brilliant fusion of European classical oratorio and African American Spiritual traditions.
As one of the twentieth century's most significant black composers, Dett was among the first to use the musical language of the African-American Spiritual to create large scale classical compositions, bringing together the richness of the Spiritual tradition and the forms and ambitions of the concert hall.
As the finale of Coventry Cathedral's Black History Month, this will be a very special concert performed by Coventry Cathedral Chorus, Divertimento and Royal Leamington Spa Bach Choir, 150 voices in all - plus soloists and full orchestral accompaniment by Leamington Sinfonia.
The Ordering of Moses
Nathaniel Dett
Love Let the Wind Cry
Watch and Pray
Undine Smith-Moore
Ballade in A Minor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Conducted by:
Jim Bate
Michael Karcher-Young
Event Details
Doors Open at 6:30PM
Starts at 7:30PM
