The Full Works Concert - Tuesday 25 June 2013

In another exclusive concert, Anne-Marie Minhall introduces the Southbank Sinfonia and the Parliament Choir, live at London's Cadogan Hall.

Tonight, Anne-Marie Minhall presents another exclusively-recorded live concert on Classic FM - featuring the Parliament Choir performing at London’s Cadogan Hall. 

And what makes this broadcast extra special is that on this day in 1840, one of tonight's works – the resplendent Hymn of Praise from Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.2 – was premiered in Leipzig. 

The Parliament Choir was formed in 2000 after a discussion between Lord Filkin and Simon Over (then Director of Music at St Margaret’s Westminster) about the difficulty of belonging to a choir while working in Parliament; the need to work during evenings made it very hard to attend rehearsals. The choir now holds weekly rehearsals in St Mary Undercroft (the chapel within the Palace of Westminster) during parliamentary sessions, which allows MPs and Peers to leave rehearsals at the sound of the division bell in order to vote.

Since its inception the choir has sung a rich and varied repertoire ranging from Bach’s Christmas Oratorio to songs from the shows, carol concerts to Verdi’s Requiem.

In true Parliamentary style, all the performers are ‘whipped’ into shape by the Founder and Music Director of the Parliament Choir, Simon Over.

Tonight's concert also features Bruch’s evergreen Violin Concerto.