Coventry Cathedral brings its Black History Month 2026 programme to a powerful conclusion with a special performance of R. Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses, one of the most significant large-scale choral works by a Black composer of the twentieth century.
For this major concert, Coventry Cathedral Chorus will join forces with Royal Leamington Spa Bach Choir and Divertimento, creating a combined chorus of around 150 voices, accompanied by soloists and the Leamington Sinfonia.
At the centre of the evening is Dett’s remarkable telling of the biblical story of Moses and the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. The work follows Moses as a young shepherd who encounters God through the burning bush and receives the command to lead his people out of Egypt, culminating in their dramatic passage through the Red Sea.
The familiar spiritual “Go Down, Moses”, with its declaration “Let my people go”, forms part of a work that brings together the traditions of European classical oratorio and African American spiritual music.
Robert Nathaniel Dett was one of the most important Black composers of the early twentieth century and a pioneering figure in the development of African American classical music. His work sought to demonstrate that the melodies and musical traditions of African American spirituals could provide the foundations for ambitious concert works.
Born in Canada in 1882 and raised partly in the United States, Dett became the first Black graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. As a composer, pianist, conductor, educator and writer, he devoted much of his career to preserving and developing the musical traditions that had emerged from the African American experience.
Composed in the 1930s, The Ordering of Moses became one of Dett’s greatest achievements. Its combination of orchestra, chorus, solo voices and spiritual influences creates a work of considerable scale and emotional power.
The story at its heart also carries particular historical resonance. The biblical account of the Israelites’ escape from enslavement held profound significance within African American culture, where the story of Exodus and songs such as Go Down, Moses became expressions of hope, faith, resistance and the longing for freedom.
Dett drew upon that musical and spiritual inheritance while working within the tradition of the classical oratorio, creating a composition in which African American musical heritage is integral to the structure and identity of the work rather than treated as an addition to it.
The Coventry performance brings together an unusually large musical ensemble for the Cathedral’s Black History Month finale. With approximately 150 choral voices, soloists and full orchestral accompaniment, audiences will have the opportunity to experience the scale and richness of Dett’s composition within the extraordinary surroundings of Coventry Cathedral.
The concert also provides an opportunity to discover a composer whose achievements deserve a much wider audience. While the classical canon has historically given limited prominence to Black composers, performances such as this help bring important works back into concert halls and introduce their histories to new generations.
Closing Coventry Cathedral’s Black History Month 2026 celebrations, Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses promises an evening of exceptional choral music while celebrating the creativity and enduring legacy of a pioneering Black classical composer.
Tickets can be booked online in advance or purchased on the door.
More Coventry Listings MORE
The American Four Tops
More than just a tribute show, American Four Tops is a heartfelt homage to one of the most…
Ballet Black at 25
Ballet Black at 25 comes to the Belgrade Theatre for a special one-night performance, celebrating 25 years of…
Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses
Coventry Cathedral brings its Black History Month 2026 programme to a powerful conclusion with a special performance of…