Join the Dessoff Choirs for an afternoon at James Chapel singing through one of the most beloved seasonal classics, Handel’s Messiah. Participants may join to sing or listen. The soloists will come from The Dessoff Choirs membership.
Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
The Dessoff Choirs ushers in the winter solstice with a concert of seasonal repertoire and contemporary arrangements of carols. The concert opens with Gregg Smith’s motet Alleluia: Von Himmel Hoch, a setting of the chorale tune of the same name. Brahms’s romantic and lush trilogy, Drei geistliche Chöre is performed by the sopranos and altos of the choir followed by the full choir singing three motets by living composers Ned Rorem, Nancy Wertsch, and James Bassi. We also celebrate Hanukkah with Simchu Nu, by Leonard Bernstein. A set of popular carols will complete the concert including a candlelit rendition of Silent Night for all to sing. Welcome Yule! is the perfect way to shepherd us into the holiday spirit.
| Alleluia: Von Himmel Hoch | Gregg Smith (1931-2012) |
| Carol: O come all ye faithful | John Francis Wade (1711-1786) arr. David Willcocks (1919-2015) |
| Drei geistliche Chöre O Bone Jesu Adoramus te Regina coeli |
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) |
| O magnum mysterium (Serenity) | Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978) |
| Wake, O Earth | Nancy Wertsch (b.1943) |
| Quem pastores | James Bassi (b. 1961) |
| Simchu na | Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) |
| Carol: Hark the herald angels sing | Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) arr. Daniel Fortune and Malcolm J. Merriweather |
| Light one candle | arr. Robert De Cormier (b. 1922) |
| Carol of the Bells | arr. Peter J. Wilhousky |
| Carol: Silent night | Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863) |
| “Hallelujah” from Messiah | George Friderick Handel (1685-1759) |
The Dessoff Choirs presents David Lang’s the little match girl passion, a work that evokes passion through stasis, repetition, and the unexpected combination of percussion instruments with voices. The composer describes his inspiration for setting the text:
What drew me to The Little Match Girl is that the strength of the story lies not in its plot but in the fact that the horror and the beauty are constantly suffused with their opposites. Andersen tells this story as a kind of parable, drawing a religious and moral equivalency between the suffering of the poor girl and the suffering of Jesus.
In addition, Dessoff performs J.S. Bach’s Komm Jesu, komm, the fourth installment (over three seasons) of Bach’s six motets and as part of our Bernstein tribute, “II. Adonai, roi, lo ehsar” from Chichester Psalms.
| Komm Jesu, komm, BWV 229 | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) |
| “II. Adonai, roi, lo ehsar” from Chichester Psalms | Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) |
| the little match girl passion | David Lang (b.1957) |
The Dessoff Choirs’ Freedom Concert, modeled after “freedom concerts” presented by the late Coretta Scott King, offers a choral tapestry of music that reflects on events of the past while promoting hope for the future. Featured works include Ralph Vaughan Williams’ plea for peace, Dona nobis pacem (1936); Robert Sirota’s homage to the nine victims of the Mother Emanuel AME massacre, Prelude and Spiritual for Mother Emanuel; works by female composers; and a commissioned work written by David Hurd. The concert closes with the well-known civil rights freedom song Oh Freedom.
| “Dona nobis pacem” from Mass in B minor | Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) |
| Dona nobis pacem | Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) |
| “III. Adonai, Adonai Lo gavah libi” from Chichester Psalms | Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) |
| Prelude and Spiritual for Mother Emanuel | Robert Sirota (b.1949) |
| commissioned work | David Hurd (b.1950) |
| Cry Peace | Libby Larsen (b.1950) |
| Blessed Assurance | Nancy Wertsch (b.1943) |
| We shall walk through the valley | Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989) |
| Oh, Freedom | arr. Malcolm J. Merriweather and Charles Duke |
Led by preeminent conductor Kent Tritle, Malcolm returns to Carnegie Hall to sing the baritone solos in the world premiere of Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road, an oratorio about the Underground Railroad, commissioned by the Society.
Kent Tritle, conductor
Malcolm joins The Masterwork Chorus to sing the baritone solos in two of his favorite works: Fauré Requiem’s and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem.
Christopher Shepard, conductor
John Luther Adams, In the name of the Earth
West Chorus, Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
Voices of Haiti on Tour
Performances: Porto Venere, Arena di Verona, Firenze, and the Vatican
Malcolm J. Merriweather, clinician
