A special Sunday evening spring concert on May 4 -- "There is Sweet Music" -- highlights two community-based choral ensembles, the Middlebury College Community Chorus and the Vermont Choral Union. The concert takes place on the college campus in Mead Chapel at 7:30 p.m. The Choral Union makes its first appearance in Middlebury under the direction of Jeff Rehbach in this performance, while the Community Chorus returns to the Chapel for its annual May concert.
This unique concert is one we think you'll enjoy. It's not often we hear two different choirs performing in the same program, with a range of music from Renaissance times to the present, set in the marvelous acoustics of Mead Chapel! This program highlights the idea that something new may always be heard in music: the unique settings of ancient texts by masters of early music; the wondrous sonority of nineteenth and early twentieth-century music written for six to eight voice parts that masterfully bring poetry to life; and the exquisite melodies and extraordinary harmonies of contemporary choral works. Admission is $15 adults, $10 seniors/youth (maximum of $40/family).
The Middlebury Chorus will sing several amazingly beautiful American choral works: Omnia Sol by Z. Randall Stroope; The Ground by Norwegian-born Ola Gjeilo; and Sure on This Shining Night by Morten Lauridsen. Tim Guiles accompanies the chorus, in these works whose melodies and harmonies deeply touch both performers and listeners. The eighty members of the Community Chorus come from communities throughout Addison, Rutland, and Chittenden counties.
The Choral Union (based in Essex Junction) opens its part of the program with joyful motets by European composers Palestrina, Sweelinck, and Schütz as the 35 ensemble members, quoting texts from Psalms, "make a joyful noise" and "sing a new song." The program continues with music from the past two centuries. Johannes Brahms composed the three richly sonorous songs of his opus #42, scored for six voice parts, around the year 1860. In the first decade of the twentieth century, English composer Edward Elgar uniquely arranged Tennyson's text "There is Sweet Music" with beautiful melodies and surprising harmonies. In 1935, distinguished American composer Randall Thompson, inspired by the painting "The Peaceable Kingdom" by American artist Edward Hicks, composed an extended work on texts from Isaiah, including the powerful song "Ye Shall Have a Song" for eight different voice parts.
The Choral Union has the honor of premiering "Ave Verum Corpus" by Northfield, Vt. composer Dennis Báthory-Kitsz in this concert. He composed this work in late 2013 in memory of distinguished British composer John Tavener, who passed away in November. Tavener's works often reflect his deep spirituality, as can be heard in the "Song for Athene" that will also be performed in this program (that song was heard worldwide as part of the memorial service for Princess Diana). The new Báthory-Kitsz work sets an ancient Latin hymn text in a hushed, ethereal manner, with the voices seemingly suspended as they gradually shift from one note to the next. The choir, accompanied by string quartet, will conclude the concert with popular American composer Eric Whitacre's delightful "Five Hebrew Love Songs."
We hope to see you Sunday evening!
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