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) |
