The Monadnock Chorus spring concert with soloists and full orchestra is planned for May 11 and 12.
J.S. Bach, one of the greatest composers of all time, died in 1750. But his sublime creative genius influenced musical composition for generations to come. Three composers who revered Bach and were inspired by his music โ Felix Mendelssohn, Joseph Haydn and Josef Rheinberger โ will be featured in Monadnock Chorusโ spring concert, โAfter Bach,โ Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 12 at 3 p.m. at the Peterborough Townhouse. A full orchestra will accompany these choral works from the late classical and romantic periods. Professional soloists for the program are Maria Ferrante, soprano; Pamela Stevens, mezzo-soprano; Benjamin Robinson, tenor, and Brian Ming-Chu, baritone.
โEach of these musical masters, in notes and diaries, talk about their debt to Bach. The works we will be performing all pay homage to Bach in different ways. And these amazing compositions are not widely performed, which gives us additional motivation to bring them to our Monadnock region audiences,โ Artistic Director Dr. Matthew Leese said of the program.
Mendelssohnโs โEhre sei Gott in der Hoฬheโ features a capella double choir sections, juxtaposed with solo quartet.
โMendelssohn draws inspiration from both Palestrina and Bach to create this lush, moving piece,โ Leese said.
The Haydn work to be presented, โSalve Regina in G,โ is infused with Baroque dance forms, which greatly influenced Bachโs works as well.
โHaydnโs work has a delicacy, nuance and grace that reminds me of Bach,โ he said. โAnd the lush, weighty chords immediately transport the audience to a different time period.โ
The third composer in the program, Josef Rheinberger, is not as widely known.
โRheinberger wrote in the latter half of the nineteenth century and provides something of a bridge to the past with a hint of the new sounds and styles that will emerge in the twentieth century,โ Dr. Leese said. โThe Mass in C is an amazing combination of purely beautiful sounds with really experimental technique. In this piece, the orchestra initiates the fireworks and the choir launches off from there. Rheinberger composed using all the rules Bach followed, but includes sudden harmonic shifts and amazing rhythmic contrasts that enthrall the listener.โ
The program will conclude with Rheinbergerโs sublime, six- part choral piece, โAbendlied,โ a perennial favorite of choral music lovers.
Tickets for the May 11ย and 12ย concerts in Peterborough are available online at www.monadnock-chorus.org, or at local Peterborough retailers, Steeleโs Stationers and Toadstool Bookstore. Tickets are $20 ($18 for on-line purchase); Student price, $10.