Article published in Manchester Evening News 20 March 2015

SALFORD Choral Society has a UK premiere in its concert with Manchester Camerata at the Royal Northern College of Music on March 28. 

This is not a big surprise, you might think, for one of the region’s liveliest choirs, which will perform under its young conductor, Matthew Hamilton. 

However, the music the group will play is unusual in that it was composed over two centuries ago – by the man who was boss to Mozart’s father. 

It’s a Requiem by Luigi Gatti, music director to the archbishop of Salzburg from 1783 to 1817. Written around 1807, it survived in Salzburg Cathedral archives until its recent rediscovery. The modern world premiere was by Salzburg Cathedral Choir in 2012, and Salford Choral has secured the right to bring it to the UK first. 

“Gatti had written several operas in Italy before his move to Salzburg, and you can see the influence of opera in his sacred music,” says Matthew. “He has a particular gift for melody – like in Mozart, the phrases are achingly elegant. It’s a great piece to sing.” 

It’s also about 15 years later than Mozart’s own more famous Requiem – and strikingly different in tone. 

“Composers such as Cherubini, and later Berlioz and Verdi, wrote settings of the Requiem with a dramatic treatment of death and judgment,” says Matthew, “and this is earlier than those. It’s turning the corner into the Romantic type of Requiem.

“It’s scored for a slightly larger orchestra than Mozart’s – but for the Dies Irae there are four trumpets, and that’s more dramatic than anything Mozart’s does. It begins and ends serenely, in C major, but there’s real grit there, too, and it’s very much a choral setting – perfect for us to get our teeth into.” 

Matthew has been helping Salford Choral get their teeth into lots of things since taking over as music director in 2012.  

He’s also associate conductor of the London Symphony Chorus, director of Reading Bach Choir and Keele Bach Choir, musical director of the New London Chamber Choir, and works with the BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, CBSO Chorus and the BBC Proms – but still lives in Chorlton. He got married last September to his former university colleague Amanda, and since she’s working in Aberdeen, Manchester makes a good base for them both. 

And he’s conductor for a Manchester Chamber Choir concert on May 23 at the Bridgewater Hall, when they and organist Wayne Marshall explore works by the 20^th century French composers Dupré and Duruflé.