2007-2008 SeasonSublime beauty and lively songs of the spirit from around the world Love and Sorrow 7:30 pm on Saturday, October 20, 2007, at the Hamilton Fine Arts Center Antonin Dvorak wrote his great sacred work Stabat Mater during a period of profound grief in which all three of his children died in quick succession. This work for chorus and orchestra was inspired by the medieval Latin hymn, “Stabat Mater Dolorosa.” Passing through grief to redemption, the poem describes the sorrow of the Virgin Mary witnessing the crucifixion of her son, Jesus. Feliz Navidad 7:30 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2007, at the Hamilton Fine Arts Center 3:00 pm on Sunday, December 9, 2007, at the Basilica of St. Josaphat Guitars, castanets and Andean flutes accompany call and response songs of faith, saturated with the light, color and irresistible energy of South American folk music. Navidad Nuestra and Misa Criolla by Argentinian composer Ariel Ramirez, assorted carols and an audience sing-along. Music of the Cathedrals 7:30 pm on Saturday, March 8, 2008, at the Basilica of St. Josaphat Four lush masterpieces of unaccompanied choral art reveal insightful and fervent expressions of faith by composers of our own time. When David Heard by Eric Whitacre, Requiem by Zdenek Lukas, Hymn to St. Cecilia by Benjamin Britten, and Katedralen by Einojuhani Rautavaara. In the Beginning: Two Revolutionaries Speak 3:00 pm on Sunday, May 18, 2008, at the Wilson Center for the Arts 20th century American composer Aaron Copland and 18th century Austrian composer Franz Josef Haydn both revolutionized the music of their time, creating compositional styles that radically changed the course of music. Some of their most beautiful works were initially written in intimate, chamber settings in response to specific situations, such as the orchestra pit, or the exigencies of war. Whether using unaccompanied voices for In the Beginning, or 13 instruments for the original version of Appalachian Spring, Copland melded modern, open harmonic structure with American folksong, evoking the vast American landscape. Haydn’s Mass in D Minor was written with spare orchestration necessitated by war, and demonstrates that sometimes less truly is more. |
