Composed in 1741, with text from the King James Bible, and premiered in London at the Covent Garden Theatre in 1743, this work has gone on to become one of the true masterpieces in the choral canon. Depicting the prophecy, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the work includes many hugely popular numbers in their own right, including For Unto Us a Child is Born, And the Glory of the Lord, and of course, the majestic Hallelujah chorus. No festive season is complete without this work, as brilliant, expressive and ebullient now as when it was first performed, and brought to life exquisitely in this concert by internationally renowned vocal octet VOCES8 who join the English Chamber Orchestra and a stellar line-up of soloists for this performance. We are performing an 80 minute version of this work, to be presented without an interval, to a socially distanced audience.