London premiere of Hummel’s oratorio The Crossing of the Red Sea, which lay undiscovered in the British Library until 2004

Johann Nepomuk Hummel is known as much for being a pupil of Mozart and Haydn as for his actual music. A virtuoso pianist himself, he wrote a significant amount of piano music but there is much else besides. 

His short oratorio, Der Durchzug durchs rote Meer (The Crossing of the Red Sea) is one of Hummel’s unpublished works and was regarded as lost until 2004, when German conductor and musicologist Hermann Max discovered it in the British Library, where it had been lurking for over 100 years, and recorded it in German. 

There is now a chance to hear the work in what will be its first London performance when Medici Choir, conductor David Gostick perform Hummel’s oratorio in a new English translation as The Crossing of the Red Sea on Saturday 5 April 2025 at at Holy Sepulchre London EC1. Medici Choir will be joined by Brandenburg Sinfonia and soloists Luci Briginshaw, Eve McGrath, Patrick Ashcroft and Edwin Kaye in a programme that also includes Mozart’s Mass in C minor.

The work is clearly influenced by Handel and Haydn, though the manuscript for the work is undated. it seems likely that it dates from the years 1804 to 1816 when Hummel was leader of the orchestra in Esterházy, though he actually acted as kapellmeister though the post was officially held by Haydn.

Further information from the choir’s website, tickets from TicketSource.