The Washington Chorus (Photo: Margot Schulman)
Choral music is a glorious genre in which the sound of a multitude of voices embraces an audience. Opera and classical music expert Saul Lilienstein leads an in-depth consideration of the great choral works and the composers who wrote them from the Renaissance through the Romantic century.
Emphasis is placed on the most enduring and beloved masterpieces, with special focus on compositional technique, polyphonic nature, influences among composers, and the relationship between the secular and the sacred. Lectures are highlighted by film clips and musical recordings
November 18 Into the Modern Era
The polyphonic style of the early masters is a paradigm for all that follows. Hear excerpts from works by Josquin de Pres, Palestrina, de Lassus, Monteverdi, and William Byrd.
November 25 The Oratorios of George Frederic Handel
Examine how voices and instruments join in brilliant ensembles and Handel’s choral music achieves a dramatic quality in Israel in Egypt, The Messiah, and other oratorio masterworks of the early 18th century.
December 2 The Choral Works of J.S. Bach
Lilienstein surveys Bach’s approach to choral composition in excerpts from the Mass in B Minor, St. Matthew’s Passion, and his most beloved cantatas.
December 9 The Classical Period
The rich fusion of Baroque profundity and melodic clarity is heard in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Requiem. Haydn’s fresh creative voice was sustained to the end of his life, reflected in joyful but reverent settings of the Catholic mass and in his oratorios The Creation and The Seasons.
December 16 The Romantic Century: Beethoven, Berlioz, and Verdi
Compare these composers’ widely divergent and personal styles: Beethoven, boldly confronting his God with devotion and defiance in the Missa Solemnis; Berlioz, creating the extravagant Requiem Mass that mixes the sacred and profane; and Verdi, bridging the gap between opera and oratorio in the sweeping melodies and drama of his Requiem.
5 sessions
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