Wisconsin Chamber Choir December 13, 2008

The Wisconsin Chamber Choir Presents
“Gloria in excelsis Deo”
Saturday, December 13, 2008 7:30 p.m.
Trinity Lutheran Church
1904 Winnebego Street Madison, WI

Concert Details
Now in its tenth season, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir presents “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” its first concert of 2008-2009 on Saturday, December 13th at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1904 Winnebego Street. Advanced tickets are available at Ward Brodt Music, Little Luxuries and Orange Tree Imports, or by calling 273-4609. Prices are $10.00 advance and $12.00 at the door, general admission, and $5 and $7 for students.
Dr. Robert Gehrenbeck is the musical director.
More information can be found at www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org

About the Works
“Gloria in excelsis Deo,” meaning “Glory to God in the highest,” has inspired countless musical works through the ages. Originally the exclamation of the angels announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds in Judea, the phrase made its way into liturgy of the Roman Catholic Mass. Our concert includes pieces based on Latin, English, and Russian versions of these words, featuring music by Giovanni Gabrieli, Stephen Paulus, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and others.
The splendor of sixteenth-century Venice is reflected in a remarkable body of church music featuring multiple choirs of voices and instruments. Our program opens with a set of Latin motets by Gabrieli scored for double and triple choirs, including a “choir” of brass instruments, featuring members of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Madison Symphony. Interspersed among the Gabrieli works are motets by his foremost student, the German Baroque composer Heinrich Schütz.
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil—commonly referred to as Rachmaninoff’s Vespers—is one of the best-loved choral works of all time. We present three movements drawn from this masterpiece of Russian Romanticism, including Bogoroditse Devo, Rachmaninoff’s sublime setting of the Ave Maria (sung in the original Old Church Slavonic).
Minnesota composer Stephen Paulus is a familiar name to lovers of choral music throughout the upper Midwest and beyond. Our concert concludes with two movements drawn from Paulus’s Christmas cantata, So Hallow’d Is the Time, featuring texts from late Medieval and early Renaissance English poets.
A wide variety of additional works ensure that our concert includes something for everyone, while making it a unique celebration of the Christmas season. A group of contemporary British and American carols features the US premiere of British composer Giles Swayne’s There Is No Rose, a hauntingly beautiful carol composed in 2006 for the choir of Claire College, Cambridge. One of Britain’s leading choral composers, Swayne teaches composition at Cambridge University and boasts commissions from the renowned King’s College Choir and the BBC Singers.

Czech composer Petr Eben is best known for his imaginative organ works. A survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, Eben struggled throughout much of his life against the artistic strictures of the communist government in Czechoslovakia. But when the 1989 revolution brought down the regime, Eben responded with an ebullient “Prague Te Deum” based on the Latin Te Deum hymn which he felt welling up within him. Scored for choir and brass quartet, Eben’s music interweaves Gregorian chant with quirky rhythmic motives, building toward a joyous climax at the end.
Christmas music from the Americas rounds out our program. Tapping the remarkable wealth of Latin American choral music, we present three Villancicos (Christmas carols) by Chilean composer Alfonso Letelier. These works unite a folk-like simplicity with the unmistakable flair of “Latin-style” harmonies. The folk traditions of North America are represented by a set of Christmas Spirituals, including works by African American composers Rosephayne Powell and Undine Smith Moore.

Official Website: http://www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org