TOMORRW’S concert by the Yorkshire Bach Choir at the 2010 York Early Music Christmas Festival offers a rare chance to hear Handel’s Saul.

“Handel’s great oratorios, other than Messiah, are rarely heard in northern England,” says conductor Peter Seymour. “I’m not aware of any Yorkshire performances of Saul in the past eight years, so this is a fantastic opportunity to hear it live and complete.”

Set out in operatic style in three acts, Handel’s vividly dramatic oratorio focuses on the first king of Israel’s relationship with his eventual successor, David. First performed in 1739, Saul includes the famous Dead March, a funeral for Saul and his son Jonathan, as well as some of the composer’s most dramatic choral pieces.

Yorkshire Bach Choir will be joined at St Michael le Belfrey Church, High Petergate, York, by sopranos Wendy Goodson and Bethany Seymour, mezzo soprano Yvonne Seymour, tenor Joshua Ellicott and bass Stephen Varcoe, along with the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists.

Tomorrow’s 7pm concert is dedicated to the memory of Professor John Paynter, a former vice-president of the choir, who died on July 1. Tickets cost £20 on 01904 658338 or on the door.