Chicago Chorale presents English Masterpieces
When I started Chicago Chorale, in October 2001, I was coming off a career conducting college and university choirs, which I had begun back in 1977. My point of departure had always been pedagogical – repertoire that students should learn, and that represented the interests of the various institutions for which I worked, drawn from a wide variety of sources. My experiences as a freelance singer had been very different from this – I sang whatever the conductor in question required, in churches, in synagogues, with orchestras, with early music ensembles. I had tried to make use of those professional experiences in my teaching, but was always constrained by the age and experience of my singers, by the resources provided by the schools, and by my pedagogical mission.
To start out on my own, with no money, no physical home, and only the good will of singers I could convince to sing for me, was daunting, not only because of our poverty, but because we suddenly had no mission, no raison d’être: we had only ourselves, and a small audience of friends, to please and to program for.
It took us several years to figure out who we were, what we were suited to, what would attract, challenge, and satisfy audiences. With the understanding that we will perform only music that we really believe in, we have explored Renaissance polyphony, German Baroque passions and masses, massive Russian liturgies, nineteenth and twentieth century a cappella motets in a variety of languages and national styles, and music representing specific ethnicities. We have sung Norwegian and Icelandic music, Baltic minimalism, Argentinian tango, Native American and African American music, and Gregorian chant; French and English music; time-honored classics and recent compositions. We have commissioned new music.
Along the way, we have become who we are, sharpened our craft, and gained insight into what constitutes music that matters and persists.
Our winter concert features music by three seminal twentieth century English composers: Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Herbert Howells. Organist David Jonies, Director of Music at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral, will join us for Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb, a setting of the poem “Jubilate Agno" by visionary poet Christopher Smart, and a tour de force for both choir and organist. This will be preceded by Herbert Howells’ heart-rending setting of Psalm 42, Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks, also with David at the organ. The balance of the program will feature Ralph Vaughan Williams’ a cappella Mass in G, for double chorus, and the short but powerful anthem Bring Us, O Lord God, by a lesser-known contemporary of these composers, William Harris.
Yes, this program can be enjoyed through pedagogically prepared ears, as an extension and rounding off of the English program we presented two years ago, featuring major composers we steered clear of at that time. But it can also be enjoyed as a celebration of the very best produced by that tradition at the very peak of its brilliance, on its way toward a new era. We love this music, whatever its significance, and we know you will, too.