YORKSHIRE Bach Choir re-locates to the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, on Saturday for Haydn's The Creation as part of the York Early Music Christmas Festival.

"Alongside Haydn’s sonorous choral writing, we welcome a superb trio of soloists in music that ranges from the dazzling to the serene," says conductor Peter Seymour, whose soloists will be soprano Bethany Seymour, tenor Charles Daniels and bass Stephan Loges.

"Completing the picture and bringing Haydn’s wonderful masterpiece to full life will be Yorkshire Baroque Soloists."

Saturday's concert will be dedicated to the memory of Duncan Druce, who died in October. For many years he was leader of Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and, more latterly, principal viola.

It was Duncan who made a new completion of the Mozart Requiem in 1984, following a commission from Yorkshire Bach Choir, so the choir and orchestra will start the 7.30pm concert by performing a short excerpt from this Requiem.

"As an orchestra and choir we want to pay a fitting tribute to Duncan, who has contributed such an enormous amount to the musical life of this country and most particularly to music making in the North of England," says Peter. "We could think of no better honour than performing a short excerpt from his scholarly and highly regarded completion of Mozart’s work.

"In a note on his completion, Duncan once wrote that, whilst there can be no entirely satisfactory authentic version of the Requiem, the act of the making a new completion offers a new illumination of the unique quality of Mozart’s masterpiece. He wrote that he hoped that ‘it will emerge from my version that it is, above all, a great piece of choral music'. Our short excerpt will hopefully underscore this sentiment.

"Having performed this tribute, it will be all the more poignant to move from Duncan’s unique take on Mozart’s great statement on mortality to the vibrancy of Haydn’s life-affirming masterpiece. The work is the most fantastic sing and play for all involved.”

To finish, Peter has a word of advice: "Tickets for The Creation are selling fast for what's likely to be a sell-out performance, so we would recommend securing yours in advance."

Priced at £25, £23 for concessions, they are available on 01904 658338, at ncem.co.uk or in person from the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate.