As rehearsals progress for the final St. Martin’s Chamber Choir concert of our 20th Anniversary Season (“Antiphonal Echoes: Music for Multiple Choirs”), I am getting more and more excited about the concert. In my last posting about this (two weeks ago), I wrote about the Missa Pastiche that I have fashioned for the second half of the program. Today I’ll tell you about the first half.
- Profitentes Unitatem – Gregorian plainchant
- “O clap your hands” – Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
- “Quam pulchra est” – Giovanni Gabrielli (c.1555-1612)
- “O Lord, look down” – Jonathan Battishill (1738-1801)
- Magnificat in F minor – Alan Gray (1855-1935)
- Faire is the Heavens – William H. Harris (1883-1973)
- In Paradisum – Terry Schlenker [World Premiere]
As you can see, it is a chronological sampling of some key double choir works/genres from choral music history. The plainchant, which will be sung antiphonally across the church, is an example of Medieval monastic alternatim practice; the Gibbons is an example of the Decani/Cantoris “cathedral style” of Tudor England; the Gabrielli represents the Baroque Chori spezzati (“spaced choirs”) practice of such places as (in this case) St. Mark’s, Venice; the Battishill is a sort of “massing of forces” tour de force; the Gray Magnificat is an example of Romantic expressiveness, with some lovely harmonic effects and abrupt modulations; the Harris is a beloved work of 20th century lushness and suppleness; and the Schlenker premiere is the world premiere of a work by a composer of whom I think extremely highly – an event in itself!
The concerts are…
- Friday, May 30, 7:30pm, Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church
- Saturday, May 31, 7:30pm, Bethany Lutheran Church, Cherry Hills Village
…and tickets may be obtained at the door or in advance through the “Tickets” link in the menu above or by calling (303) 298-1970.
Hope to see you there!
