Musica Sacra Chamber Chorale’s “Taste of Britten”

When:
April 26, 2013 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
2013-04-26T19:30:00-07:00
2013-04-26T21:00:00-07:00
Where:
Holy Rosary Catholic Church
4210 Southwest Genesee Street
Seattle, WA 98116
USA

In celebration of the 2013 centennial of English composer Benjamin Britten the Musica Sacra Chamber Chorale presents A Taste of Britten. The play on words suggested in this title also honors the long history of British Choral music as part of MSCC’s spring concert series.

7:30 pm on Friday, April 26th at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in West Seattle.

Tickets available through:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/304359

Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976) was perhaps the greatest English composer of the 20th century. As well as contributing to a revival of interest in native operas, which his works still dominate, Britten wrote a number of sacred acapella choral works. The MSCC concert series will include Britten’s first composition, the beautiful “Hymn to the Virgin” for double choir written by the composer at 17 years of age while confined to an infirmary, as well as the wonderful “Hymn to St. Cecilia” set to lyrics by W.H.Auden.

To properly appreciate these works it is helpful to look at them within the historical context of previous sacred works written within the English Choral tradition. Our concert opens with the wonderful “Miserere Mei Deus” of the Renaissance English composer William Byrd . This 5-part, 1591 work is followed by the beautiful 8-part “Hear My Prayer” of Henry Purcell written in 1682 at the beginning of the English Baroque period. Since music at the height of the English Baroque was pretty much dominated by compositions of George Frideric Handel, Maestor Ingalls has chosen to feature a marvelous double choir piece entitled “Throughout the Land Jehovah’s praise” from Handel’s 1748 oratorio Solomon as the next selection.

Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s father Samuel Wesley was often referred to as the English Mozart. The son, a cathedral organist and composer, wrote the wonderful choral anthem “Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace.” This is followed by selections by two of the most famous English composers of the Romantic period: Sir Charles Stanford (1852 – 1924) and Sir Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934). The selections presented include Stanford’s gorgeous “Justorum animae” and “Beati Quorum Via” followed by the “O salutaris hostia #3” and “Go, song of mine, Op. 57” of Elgar. The latter is generally considered to be Elgar’s finest choral work. The late Romantic composer W H Harris’s (1883 – 1973) composition “Holy is the True Light” is heard next, and the first half our our concert comes to a close with “My spirit sang all day” by the Irish composer Gerald Finzi (1901 – 1956).

The second half of our concert begins with the two Benjamin Britten compositions referenced above. These are followed by three sacred selections by the contemporary English composer John Tavener: “Two Hymns to the Mother of God” and “As One who has Slept”. Tavener’s music is strongly influenced by the sonoroties and chant style of the Orthodox Church. Finally, in addition to composing fine sacred music, many of the composers of the English School possessed a wonderful sense of humor. Our concert comes to a close with an example of this in Jonathan Willcocks (1953 – ) humorous setting “Musical Risotto”

1 Reply to "Musica Sacra Chamber Chorale's "Taste of Britten" "

  • Bob Ingalls April 26, 2013 (10:40 am)

    This concert should be AMAZING!!! I hope we see you there.

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