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Setting by Sheridan
Seyfried
Voices of the Holocaust
with the Nittany Valley Children's Choir
November
5, 2011
3:00 p.m. Rosenberger Auditorium, Juniata College, Huntingdon
November 6, 2011 3:00 p.m. Kraushaar Auditorium,
Goucher College, Baltimore, MD
Philip A. Klein ~ How a Choral Work is
Born
Philip A. Klein, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Senior
Research Scholar at the Economic Cycle Research Institute, and Fulbright
Scholar, joined the faculty of The Pennsylvania State University in 1955. He
earned a Ph.D. in 1958 from the University of California at Berkeley. During his
distinguished career at the University, he was a dynamic lecturer, an active
researcher, and published numerous articles and books.
Phil joined the State College Choral Society in 1977 and was a
loyal member of the bass section until he passed away last year. In 2002, when
Music Director Russ Shelley invited members of the Society to suggest
repertoire, Phil dreamed of a choral work that featured music of oppressed
peoples. In researching the possibility, he found the music from the Holocaust
compelling and of such importance as to require a piece on its own. Furthermore,
while choral music is often from Christian sources, a major Jewish choral work
was long overdue. Phil spent long hours completing research on the music,
choosing songs to be part of the work, and selecting the accompaniment and
presentation of each song. Russ was immediately taken with Phil’s proposal, and
concurred with his choices, both in terms of songs to be included and their
presentation. Through a serendipitous connection of Phil’s, they found and
commissioned Sheridan Seyfried, a talented young student at the prestigious
Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, to arrange the piece. Sheridan completed the
setting in record time, with the result being an insightful and moving
full-length choral work.
The Choral Society is deeply indebted to Phil for his vision in
selecting this music and for his dedication to the work involved in bringing it
to fruition; his contribution lives on as Voices of the Holocaust becomes
an important part of the choral repertoire. His estate has made these
performances possible.
George
Frideric Handel
Dixit Dominus
Ralph Vaughn Williams
Dona Nobis Pacem
January 15, 2012
3:00 p.m. Pasquerilla Spiritual
Center
Dixit Dominus (Handel)
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Dixit Dominus is a psalm
setting catalogued as HWV 232. It uses the Latin text of
Psalm 110 (Vulgate 109), which begins with the words
Dixit Dominus ("The Lord Said"). The work was
completed in April 1707 while Handel was living in Italy
and is his earliest surviving autograph. The work was
written in the baroque style and is scored for five
vocal soloists (SSATB), chorus, strings and continuo. It
is most likely that the work was first performed on 16
July 1707 in the Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto
under the patronage of the Colonna family.
Handel’s Dixit Dominus: a
paradox of beauty and fury
by
Zach Carstensen
Handel’s
Dixit Dominus is a curious testament
to GF Handel’s time in Italy. A setting
of Psalm 109, it is on the one hand a
deeply spiritual statement. Handel’s
contrapuntal inventiveness and his
flexible, often soaring writing for
chorus and vocal soloists, do more than
state Christian beliefs, they embody a
deep spirituality. On the other hand,
the text — angry, vengeful, furious —
seldom matches the spirit of Handel’s
music. There is plenty of mention of
enemies (“your foes I will put beneath
your feet”); power (“rule in the midst
of all your foes”); violence (“he shall
crush the heads in the land of many”);
and of course judgment (“he shall judge
among the nations…”) This is the paradox
of the Dixit Dominus and it is also
exactly why I am moved by the piece
every time I hear it. (Retrieved from
http://www.gatheringnote.org/?p=13651)
Dona
nobis pacem (Vaughan Williams)
From
Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Dona
nobis pacem, (English:
Grant us peace),
is a cantata written by Vaughn
Williams in 1936 and first
performed on 2 October 1936. The
work was commissioned to mark
the centenary of the
Huddersfield Choral Society.
Vaughan Williams produced his
plea for peace by referring to
recent wars during the growing
fears of a new one. His texts
were taken from the Mass, three
poems by Walt Whitmans, a
political speech, and sections
of the Bible. A.V. The work is
scored for chorus and large
orchestra, with soprano and
baritone soloists. The phrase
Dona nobis pacem ("Give us
peace"), in different settings,
punctuates the entire piece.
A detailed
analysis of the work can be found at
www.mcchorus.org/prognt12.htm,
program notes by Michael Moore for the
Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia.
Anton Dvořák
Mass in D
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Te Deum
May 6, 2012
3:00 p.m. Pasquerilla Spiritual
Center
Antonín Dvořák
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mass in D major, (originally
numbered as op.76, finally as op.86) is a well-concentrated, structured
composition originally intended for organ, solo voices and small choir.
The work was given its final shape in the year 1892 when, in response to
a request from the Novello publishers of London, Dvořák arranged his
Mass for a symphony orchestra.
Te
Deum (Charpentier)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charpentier composed this grand
polyphonic motet probably between 1688 and 1698, during his stay at the
Jesuit Church of Saint-Louis in Paris, where he held the position of
musical director. It is thought that the composition have been performed
to mark the victory celebrations and the Battle of Steinkirk in August,
1692. The prélude to this setting is well-known in Europe, since it is
used as the theme music for the broadcasting of the European
Broadcasting Union. This theme was also used for the introduction of
"The Olympiad" films.
Charpentier considered the key D-major as
"bright and very warlike." The instrumental introduction,
composed in the form of rondo, precede the first verse, led by the bass
soloist. The choir and other soloists join gradually. Charpentier
apparently intended to orchestrate the work according to the traditional
exegesis of the Latin text. The choir thus predominates in the first
part (verses 1-10, praise of God, heavenly dimension), and individual
soloists in the second part (verses 10-20, Christological section,
secular dimension). In subsequent verses, both soloists and choir
alternate, and the final verse is a large-scale fugue written for choir,
with a short trio for soloists in the middle. The composition is
orchestrated for eight soloists and choir, accompanied with the
instrumental ensemble of one violin, two violas, double bass violon,
flute, oboe, and bassoon. The continuo part is performed by organ, and
it can be supported by a viola da gamba.
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Concerts of our 63rd Season
