When Hector Berlioz put music to the Latin prayer Te Deum, he did so with a specific church and its organ in mind — the Église St. Eustache in France — and he specified very large performing forces.

For a UC Davis concert next weekend, “very large” will mean nearly 400 voices and 80 orchestral musicians — a record number on the Jackson Hall stage at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

Also, in accordance with Berlioz’s instructions, the organ will be at the back of the hall, creating antiphonal effects that will surround the listeners in a way that emphasizes the architectural dialogue of the choirs, organ and orchestra.

Jeffrey Thomas, UC Davis professor of music, will conduct the Te Deum, featuring the University of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, UC Davis’ University Chorus and Alumni Chorus, the Sacramento Children's Chorus, the Pacific Boychoir, the Davis Children's Chorale and several guests, including tenor soloist Wesley Rogers and organist David Deffner.

Haydn, Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Bruckner and Dvorák are among the many other composers who have set the Te Deum to music. Berlioz's setting is unique on many points:

It has both a ceremonial sense (the work's grand nature honors Napoleon and the nation of France) and a query for a deeper meaning. The work's religious nature belies Berlioz's own admission that he had "long since fallen out" of the religious tradition in which he was raised.

The result of Berlioz's reflections is an intensely introspective and yet triumphant work — as if expressing that the church (or concert hall) is a place where the common feelings of all people can be expressed. This idea is emphasized by the presence of the children's chorus, which was added to the existing double chorus when Berlioz heard a chorus of thousands of children (mostly orphans) singing at St. Paul, London, in 1851.

The concert is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 6. The program's first half features the UOP Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Nicolas Waldvogel, orchestra director, performing Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture, followed by Albert Roussel's demanding second suite of Bacchus and Ariadne.

The Department of Music announced that D. Kern Holoman, distinguished professor of music, will give a brief talk the night before on "Berlioz's Napoleon: Thoughts on the Te Deum." The talk, free and open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in the Mondavi Center's Vanderhoef Studio Theatre.

Concert tickets: $17/15/12 for adults, $8 for students and children, available online, or by visiting or calling the Mondavi Center box office, (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787. Box office hours: noon-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.

Philip Daley, publicity manager for the Department of Music, contributed to this report.

More from the Department of Music

• Bluebeard's Ghost — Béla Bartók’s only opera, fully staged by the departments of Music, and Theatre and Dance. Sung in English, with supertitles in English. 8 p.m. today (Feb. 25) and 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, Jackson Hall. See separate story.

• Jazz Bands: Selected Standards — 7 p.m. Wednsday, March 2, Vanderhoef Studio Theatre. $12 adults, $8 students and children.

• Concert and University Bands: Celebrating Physical Sciences and Engineering — 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, Jackson Hall. $12 general admission, $8 students and children.

• Early Music and Baroque ensembles — 7 p.m. Saturday, March 12, St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 640 Hawthorne Lane, Davis. Suggested donations at the door: $12 adults, $6 students and children.

Tickets for the Jazz Bands, and Concert and University band concerts are available online, or by visiting or calling the Mondavi Center box office, (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787. Box office hours: noon-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.