Compositions
Most of the Chorale's repertoire is a cappella polyphony, in keeping with the majority of sacred vocal music from the Renaissance and madrigals from the early Baroque era. Selections range from motets for mixed voices and masses for double choir to more complex works from both classical and contemporary composers.
Collaborations
Our concerts sometimes feature instrumentalists to augment the performance of selections as written by the composers. Often this is done with organ, but some selections require strings or brass, or period instruments such as cornett and sackbutt. The Chorale also collaborates with instrumental or other vocal groups to present more complex works or feature the repertoire of these early music musicians.
Commemorations
The Chorale has commemorated several longevity milestones including a 25th anniversary in 1997 and 30th anniversary in 2002. Our upcoming 40th anniversary will be celebrated during the 2011-12 concert season. We also have commemorated various composer anniversaries such as the 100th anniversary of the birth of Francis Poulenc during the 1998-99 season.
COMPOSITIONS
Motets & Masses
In Dulci Jubilo ("In sweetest rejoicing") is a traditional Christmas carol most commonly arranged as
Good Christian Men, Rejoice. The original lyrics, a macaronic alternation of medieval German and Latin, is thought to have been written by the German mystic Heinrich Seuse around 1328. In presenting this piece, the Chorale often performs SATB double-choir arrangements by German composers and organists Michael Praetorius and Samuel Scheidt.
O Magnum Mysterium ("O great mystery") is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. Many composers have reworked the chant into contemporaneous settings as performed by the Chorale including Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria, English composer William Byrd, Slavic composer Jacobus Gallus, and Italian composers Giovanni Gabrieli, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. A larger parody mass of the motet,
Missa O Magnum Mysterium, composed by Palestrina also has been performed.
The
Tenebrae Responsories by Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria were performed in March 2001. First appearing in Rome in 1585, they are among Victoria's most inspired settings of sacred texts, adhering to strict liturgical form. The 18 responsories, each for 4 voices (but with varying disposition of voices) are comprised of 6 responsories for each the Matins of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday.
Mass for Four Voices by English composer William Byrd was performed in May 2004, May 1996, and March 1994. Byrd published three Mass settings (for three, four, and five voices) separately between 1593 and 1595. Written around 1592, this four-voice Mass probably is the earliest of the three as well as the most popular and intensely personal. it is simple and concise in style, with relatively little word repetition.
Missa de la Batalla Escoutez ("Battle Mass") by Spanish composer Francisco Guerrero was performed in May 2000. Printed in 1582, it is one of the finest setting of the numerous parody masses of the popular 1528 chanson
La Guerre (war) by French composer Clément Janequin, which itself was inspired by the Battle of Marignano in 1515.
Messe Pour Les Trépassés ("Mass for the departed") by French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier was performed in March 1996. Written in the early 1670s, it is the earliest of Charpentier's three funeral masses. It is a monumental work (8 voice parts) for soloists, double choir, flutes, stings, and continuo and is unusual both musically and liturgically.
Missa Brevis ("short Mass") by Hungarian composer (ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist, and philosopher) Zoltán Kodály in . Written in 1944, the 8-movement work for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ is among Kodály's better known works. It also showcases many of the styles that influenced Kodály's compositions, especially plainchant and Hungarian folk music.
Missa Pro Defunctis ("Mass for the deceased) by Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria was performed in May 2009, March 2006, and May 1996. Published in 1605, it was dedicated to the Empress Maria's daughter Margaret with a statement that its composition was "for the obsequies of your revered mother." Most movements begin with plainsong intonation, and the piece ends with a brief recapitulation of the Kyrie.
Choral Works
Israel in Egypt, a biblical oratorio by German-English composer George Frideric Handel, was performed in May 1995. When first presented in 1739, response was unenthusiastic, due in part to the preponderance of choruses over arias (nearly 30 choruses versus a mere 4 arias plus 3 duets). Still, Handel being the consummate master of nonliturgical choral drama, the chorus, virtually without respite, assumes the central role in a fervent cataloging of Jewish travail, trial, and triumph.
In the Beginning by American composer Aaron Copland also has been performed . Written in 1947, the work is considered a masterpiece of the choral repertory. It uses verses from the King James Bible (Genesis 1:1-2:7) to describe the 7 days of creation, telling the story in a gentle narrative style, although jazz rhythms creep in at various points.
Mass in G Minor by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was performed in May 2001. Written in 1921 in response to the revival of Williams Byrd and the English ployphonic school at Westminister Cathedral, it was dedicated to Gustav Holst and the Whitsuntide Singers at Thaxted in North Essex. Scored for unaccompanied double choir and 4 soloists, it also was the first Mass written in a distinctly English manner since the 16th century.
The Great Service by English composer William Byrd was performed in March 1995 and March 2000. Dating back to 1606 (and possibly the 1590s), this large-scale setting of liturgical texts for matins and evensong was in all likelihood a Chapel Royal piece. Its sophistication and requirement for large forces (10 voice parts) make it an unlikely work.
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COLLABORATIONS
Missa Scala Aretina by Spanish composer Francisco Valls was scored for three voice choirs plus instrumentalists as the fourth choir, which was the usual practice for cathedral music of this type in 17th century Spain. One of the lesser known settings of
Magnificat by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi used Instruments as a third chorus, based on several of the composer’s eight-part double choir psalms calling for paired groups of equal voices. Instruments also were used to double the three four-voice choirs of Giovanni Gabrieli’s
Magnificat, characteristic of the Venetian antiphonal style.
Orchestra of the 17th Century
Founded in 1971 by directory Michael Holmes, Orchestra of the 17th Century is dedicated to the exploration and promotion of music from the century that gave rise to the modern notion of “orchestra.”
The group joined the Chorale in 2004 for
Baroque before Bach, a concert featuring German composers who were predecessors of Johann Sebastian Bach, influencing the development of his music.
The program featured selections such as
Tristis Est Anima Mea by composer, organist, and harpsichordist Johann Kuhnau; Ach Herr, Strafe Mich Nicht by composer Sebastian Knüpfer; and Vom Himmel kam der Engel Schar by composer Johann Schelle, and. Also presented were works by composers and organists Christian Geist, Andreas Hammerschmidt, and Dieterich Buxtehude, whom in 1705 Johann Sebastian Bach walked some 250 miles (from Arnstadt to Lübeck) to hear play.
Washington Cornett & Sackbutt Ensemble
The Washington Cornett & Sackbutt Ensemble is comprised of local professional musicians dedicated to the performance of music written during the heyday of these instruments (circa 1475-1750).
The group joined the Chorale on several occasions during the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons to perform its own repertoire and works composed for double choir and instruments. For one concert, the Ensemble performed Canzona à 5 by Italian composer, publisher, and organist Claudio Merulo. The Ensemble then accompanied the Chorale in presenting Four German Carols arranged by Michael Praetorius and Magnificat by Giovanni Gabrieli, in which some voices in the upper and lower choirs are doubled by instruments.
For a second concert, the ensemble was featured in a setting of In Dulci Jubilo by Michael Praetorius and in the antiphonal Angelus Ad Pastores Ait by Giovanni Gabrieli. The combined groups performed three settings of Magnificat buy Antonio Vivaldi, Heinrich Schutz, and Andrea Gabrieli. A third concert featured the group in several works including Missa Concertata by Francesco Cavailli and O Quam Speciosa by Alessandro Grandi. A brass quartet also performed Ricercar Terzo by Claudio Merulo and Ricercar Del Duodecimo Tuono by Andrea Gagrielli.
Musica Antiqua
Founded in 1974 by composer and director John Guillory, Musica Antiqua is comprise of local instrumental and vocal musicians who specializes in discovering and performing lesser known music prior to 1650.
The group joined both the Chorale and the Washington Cornett & Sackbutt Ensemble in 1998 to present Music of Three Flemish Masters. The concert featured works by Franco-Flemish composers Josquin des Prez, Orlande de Lassus, and Guillaume Dufay to illustrate the evolution in the musical treatment of the Ordinary of the Mass from five invariable parts to a unified whole.
Ad Hoc Singers
Founded in 1976 and directed by Louise Lee, the Ad Hoc Singers are devoted to traditional choral music from the 15th through 20th centuries.
The group joined the Chorale in 1995 to present George Frideric Handel’s biblical oratorio
Israel in Egypt. The work is unusual among Handel’s oratorios because of its high proportion of choral sections (nearly 30 choruses, compared with only 4 airs and 3 duets). It also is the Handel’s first work, the second being
Messiah, whose words are taken entirely from selected passages of the Hebrew Bible, mainly Exodus and Psalms.
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COMMEMORATIONS
The Chorale’s 25th anniversary concert featured music as it may have been heard in the Bavarian Court. Orlande de Lassus'
Missa Bell' Amfitrit' altera was presented with the Ordinary of the Mass separated by verses of his
Psalmus Poenitentialis VI, De profundis (Ps 129) performed a cappella and
Psalmus Poenitentialis VII, Domine exaudi orationem meam (Ps 142) performed with instruments doubling the voices. Also presented was Hans Leo Hassler's Canzon II with brass quartet. A recording of the concert,
Music of the Bavarian Court: Circa 1600, was released on CD in 1997. In a review of the concert, the late Joseph McLellan, longtime music critic for The Washington Post, said "The Ron Freeman Chorale celebrated its 25th anniversary by doing what it does best: singing polyphonic music of the Renaissance."
The Chorale celebrated completion of its 30th season in May 2002 with a concert of vocal and orchestral music at the Franciscan Monastery. Many selections were composed for double choir, particularly
Missa Alleluia by Heinrich Ignaz Biber that features double choir, eight soloists, and brass orchestral ensemble. Similarly, Giovanni Gabrieli's
Buccinate features 19 voices in four choirs, with the fourth choir entirely instrumental.
During its 1998-99 season, the Chorale celebrated the 100th anniversary Francis Poulenc's birth with a performance of his
Messe en Sol Majeur (Mass in G Major). Described as “difficult,” “sober,” and “Romanesque,” the work shows the serenity Poulenc had found in his return to the Roman Catholic faith and, with the Kyrie, symbolizes the composer’s words “the Christian soul, confident of life after death.”
The Chorale will be exploring opportunities to celebrate composer anniversaries such as the 350th anniversary of the birth of Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725), the 400th anniversary of the death of Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), the 450th anniversary of the birth of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562-1621), and the 400th anniversaries of the deaths of both Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) and Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612).
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