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CHORAL GOLD II PROGRAM
The following YouTube videos are samples of some of the pieces you'll hear at CHORAL GOLD II. Come experience a live performance of the 120-member Chorale with a 60-piece orchestra. There's nothing like it!
I. Sacred Oratorio
Chorus: Hallelujah! (from Messiah) Georg Frideric Handel
The world-famous, enduring, and thrilling Hallelujah Chorus
Crucifixus et Resurrexit (from B Minor Mass) Johann Sebastian Bach
A deeply sympathetic meditation on the Crucifixion, followed by a festive celebration of the Resurrection
II. Requiem Mass
Sanctus (No. 4 of Requiem) Giuseppe Verdi
Introduced by a fanfare, two choirs of angels proclaim, in brilliant light, the glories of Heaven.
In Paradisum (No. 7 of Requiem) Gabriel Fauré
In contrast, Fauré describes the comforting serenity of Heaven, a place of transcendent and tranquil rest.
III. Secular Oratorio
Haste Thee Nymph (from L’Allegro ed il Pensieroso) Georg Frideric Handel
Employing the well-known words of John Milton, Handel depicts irrepressible laughter in this joyous, rollicking madrigal for chorus and orchestra. The full-length work is one of the composer’s 30 oratorios.
Come Lovely Spring (from The Seasons) Franz Josef Haydn
This warm, lyrical invitation to Spring opens Haydn’s last oratorio, a monumental representation of the 4 seasons.
The Witches Chorus (from Die erste Walpurgisnacht) Felix Mendelssohn
In this “most terrifying of Mendelssohn’s compositions,” the ancient Druids of the Hartz Mountains impishly masquerade as demons and witches to frighten away the invaders who wish to subdue and convert them. The text is by Goethe and is sung in German; in English, the oratorio is The First Walpurgis Night.
IV. Opera (Part A)
Ah, se intorno (Funeral Chorus from Orfeo ed Euridice) Christoph Willibald Gluck Together with the nymphs and shepherds, Orpheus, musician and son of Apollo, laments the death of his beautiful, young wife, Eurydice.
Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (from Nabucco) Giuseppe Verdi
Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem destroyed, the city in ruins, the Israelites, now captive slaves of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, grieve for their lost homeland.
The Anvil Chorus (from Il Trovatore) Giuseppe Verdi
The gypsies fashion armaments while singing the joys of wine and pretty gypsy girls.
The Coronation Scene (from Boris Godunov) Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky
On September 1, 1598, Czar Boris Godunov began his troubled yet idealistic reign, acclaimed by thousands in Moscow’s Kremlin Square and accompanied by the bells of the city’s churches and cathedrals. (The orchestra is augmented by offstage locomotive bells on kind loan from David Supperstein’s collection.) Boris’s supposed guilt, voiced as his private thoughts, references the erooneous belief that he murdered his young rival, Prince Dimitri. Subsequent scholarship, however, has exonerated him.
V. Opera (Part B)
The Polovtsian Dances (from Prince Igor) Alexander Borodin
Set in “semi-legendary Russia in 1185,” the opera is a romance employing folk melodies and Oriental themes and rhythms. (Listen for music quoted later in Kismet.) Igor, held captive by the Tartar Khan Khontchak of the Polovtsk, is nevertheless treated very well. He is even entertained by the dancing of the Khan’s slave girls.
VI. Broadway
In the superb music of the Broadway Theater, deeply human and convincing characterizations emerge. In the order of our selections, we encounter vulnerability, discovery, honesty, imagination, and finally, wisdom. Of course, a disarming humor surrounds most everything and leads us to sharper understandings.
Most Happy Fella music and lyrics by Frank Loesser
Somebody Somewhere Sweet Rosabella, a New York City waitress, accepts older Tony’s offer to be his mail-order bride, and to join him at his California vineyard. (After some early difficulties, it all works out very well.)
BIG D Boy meets girl, and are exceptionally happy to discover that each hails from Big D (Dallas!).
The California vineyard workers join in the celebration as well.
Guys and Dolls music and lyrics by Frank Loesser
Luck Be a Lady Everything depends on winning this “craps” game involving two rival gambling “associates,” one from New York City, the other from Chicago. Despite being given defective dice by the Chicagoans, (the spots are removed), Sky Masterson, New Yorker, is confident he will triumph with the help of Lady Luck.
Sit Down Nicely Nicely Johnson, gambler, is asked to give “Testimony” at the Salvation Army meeting. Surprised, he invents a dream he says he had last night, appearing to make up the story as he goes.
Make Our Garden Grow (from Candide) music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein
Scottish Opera House Version used with permission of publisher, Boosey & Hawkes (NY)
In this grand Finale of Candide, the characters acknowledge that, despite their travails, all is well;
even Candide and Cunegonde will be married.
VII. Dramatic Oratorio
Carmina burana (two selections) Carl Orff
No. 24 Banziflor et Helena
No. 25 O Fortuna
Set to music in 1930, the texts date from the middle ages and were discovered in a Bavarian monastery in the early 1920's. They are colorful, passionate songs and ballads written by minstrels, students, rascals, defrocked monks, soldiers, and wanderers. Orff's music is of the highest theatricality and possesses an unforgettable impact.
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