Newburyport Choral Society

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The NCS is supported in part by grants from the
Amesbury, Georgetown, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, and West Newbury Cultural Councils,
local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Concerts

NEWBURYPORT CHORAL SOCIETY
2008 SPRING CONCERT

Benjamin Britten’s
Cantata Misericordium
Te Deum in C

Ralph Vaughan Williams’
Serenade to Music

Samuel Barber’s
Reincarnations
And a choral adaptation of
Adagio for Strings (Agnus Dei)

Saturday May 17, 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 18, 2:30 PM

"The Ralph Vaughan Williams "Serenade to Music" is a wonderful, glowing setting of Shakespeare's apostrophe to music itself in Act V of his play, The Merchant of Venice. The words read aloud are glowing enough, but the composer sets them to beautiful, lyrical music, easy to sing and very memorable.

Two Britten compositions are on the program. The Te Deum in C is dramatic, forceful and a great celebration piece. The second is a kind of dramatic cantata, called "Cantata Misericordium," which was commissioned for the centennial of the International Red Cross. The text is a re-telling (in Latin) of the parable of the Good Samaritan. The setting is for tenor and baritone soloists and chorus. It is thoroughly memorable.

Music by Samuel Barber, the great 20th century American composer, rounds out the program. First, there is a set of three choral songs, each with a characteristic mood and feel. "Mary Hines" is a fevered and exuberant love song. "Anthony O'Daly" is a lament, howling to heaven over the death of a friend. The last, "The Coolin," is a wonderful reflective and sensuous love song which, for many of you, will be the hit of the show. The last piece is a choral adaptation of Barber's celebrated Adagio for Strings, with the words of the "Agnus Dei." Come early and get a good seat!"

Newburyport Choral Society
P.O. Box 92 | Newburyport, MA 01950
978-462-0650 | information@newburyportchoralsociety.org