BBC Radio 3 Composers of the Year

British Choirs on the Net (www.choirs.org.uk)

British Choirs on the Net is working closely with the BBC Radio 3 Composers of the Year (Radio 3) and The Birth of British Music (BBC 2).

Composer of the Year is a celebration of the lives of four magnificent composers throughout 2009. The year marks the 350th anniversary of Henry Purcell's birth, the 250th anniversary of G F Handel's death, the 200th anniversary of Joseph Haydn's death and the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn's birth.

As part of the Nationwide Mendelssohn Celebration, choirs are invited to register their interest in performing Mendelssohn's 'O for the Wings of a Dove' from Friday 8 May to Sunday 10 May. Choirs may schedule their performances in any chosen location during the course of the weekend in question. Registration is by email to composers@bbc.co.uk Putting 'Wings Choir Registration' in the subject line, email us details of your choir, with the name, postal address, and email address of a primary contact, together with the URL of your choir's website, where applicable. Tell us about your choir and why you're keen to take part. We will acknowledge receipt of your registration; within four weeks we will send you a link to a branded, customisable poster tor you to advertise your performance.

BBC Radio 3 will offer a downloadable poster which you can customise to advertise your performance. If your choir has its own website, we invite you to record your performance and post it on your site - the Radio 3 Composers of the Year website will link to it. In addition, choirs will be invited to send recordings to Radio 3, for possible broadcast, in part, during future editions of The Choir. Choirs are also invited to email digital photographs of the performance to Radio 3 for publication on the Composers of the Year website.

About the music:
Mendelssohn's 'O for the Wings of a Dove' is part of a larger motet, Hear My Prayer; choirs with sufficient resources are encouraged to perform the whole work. Mendelssohn's motet, Hör' mein Bitten (Hear My Prayer) was completed on January 25, 1844, and was first performed for Bartholomew's concerts in Crosby Hall, London, a year later. The piece is arranged for soprano solo with four-part mixed chorus and organ accompaniment. The English words, by W Bartholomew, are a paraphrase of Psalm 55, in which the petitioner calls upon his Lord to protect him from his enemies. The second half of the motet, often performed separately, is 'O for the Wings of a Dove.'

Registering your Concert on http://www.concertfinder.co.uk/
To register your concert on the Online Choral Concert Diary send details including time/date; choir name; venue and ticket cost to British Choirs on the net by email to philliptolley@colcanto.co.uk

For more information on BBC Radio 3 Composers of the Year visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/composers/