Masses Both of tonight’s works are called “masses”.  A mass, strictly, is the formal eucharistic church service, primarily used in the Roman Catholic tradition, although also used in Anglican and Episcopal churches.  Masses developed early in church history, probably around the fourth century; in those earliest versions, the music was chant-style.  By the 11th century…

Wolcum Yole This is the first movement (following a chant-style prelude) of Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols”.  Britten’s work is based on verses (and some melodies) from 14th-century Britain, so the lyrics utilize Middle English, which may sound a bit strange to our ears.  The Chorus performed the entire Ceremony on its third concert,…

Jingle Bells The original lyrics of this paean to winter outings are the 1857 creation of James Lord Pierpont—possibly for his Boston Sunday School class, at Thanksgiving. The source of the tune, however, is not known— Pierpont did not use this tune. The version on this concert is the work of Jack Gold and Marty…

King David (Le Roi David) Arthur Honegger was born in LeHavre, France, in 1892, and died in Paris in 1957, but his parents were Swiss. He became part of the group of “young Turks” known as Les Six, mentored by the dramatist Jean Cocteau.  He began composing before his teen years. At 29, he was…

Another Swingin’ Christmas with the Pete Ellman Big Band It would be hard to find a bag of seasonal songs more mixed than these: Spirituals of unknown provenance; popular songs, including songs from Broadway, and country and western ditties; a father’s grieving over his son’s Civil War injury; a traditional Hispanic greeting in a bouncy…

Dettingen Te Deum Operatic composer George Frederic Handel was an astute ‘survivor’, having maintained working relationships with four British monarchs— Queen Anne and Kings George I, II, and III—as well as the Elector of Hanover, his first royal employer. Having essentially snubbed the latter— who later became George I! – Handel also survived, among other…

A Swingin’ Christmas with the Pete Ellman Big Band Since the theme of this concert is A Swingin’ Christmas, it should not surprise that this concert has only a brief nod to traditional Christmas music:  Just one hymn, and only one song that meets the definition of a carol by virtue of its subject and…

Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Palmeri’s Misa a Buenos Aires Magnificat – Antonio Vivaldi What is now called ‘Baroque’ music emerged around 1580, but reached full flower over a century later: At least a dozen notable Baroque composers were born between 1671 and 1687, including, between 1678 and 1685, a great quartet— Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Philipp Telemann,…

Carols, Cocoa, and Karolju – A Concert of Carols old and faux Karolju If our concert audience regulars heard that Naperville Chorus was programming a work with nonsense texts, they probably would say, “Oh, some more Alice in Wonderland”, remembering settings of those famous Lewis Carroll poems which have graced one or two of our…

Messa di Gloria (Tango Mass) and  Many Moods of Christmas Messa di Gloria The Tuscan composer, Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), is admired primarily because of his operas, at least eight of which are prominent in today’s repertory.  But his family’s musical dynasty– which extended back four more generations!– was anchored in church music. Obviously central to…