Angels and Icons – December 2010

Saturday, December 11, 8:00 pm

St. Thomas the Apostle Church

5472 S. Kimbark Avenue

Sunday, December 12, 2:30 pm

Church of the Holy Family

1080 W. Roosevelt Road

Free, pre-concert talk by The Rev. Dr. John M. Buchanan, Pastor, The Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Editor and Publisher, the Christian Century

Saturday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 1:30 pm

Works by Rautavaara, Poulenc, Shchedrin, and Paulus

Chorale’s 10th season opens with a program of a cappella music evoking the mystery and miracle of the Christmas season. Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara wrote Vigilia in tribute to St. John the Baptist. The piece has a raw and visceral, yet euphoric quality that is unique in twentieth century a cappella repertoire. Bass Wilbur Pauley is featured. Francis Poulenc’s Salve Regina captures the composer’s life-transforming experience upon encountering the basalt figurine of the Black Virgin in southern France. Loosely based on a short novel by 19th century writer Nikolai S. Leskov, Rodion Shchedrin’s The Sealed Angel concerns a community of “Old Believers” whose greatest treasure is a miraculous icon of an angel. The concert concludes with the world premiere of Stephen Paulus’ And Give Us Peace, a work commissioned in honor of Chorale’s 10th anniversary, through the financial support of Chicago’s Harper Court Arts Council.

More information:

Concert program — (PDF) Concert program including texts, translations and program notes by Bruce Tammen

St. Thomas the Apostle Church — The Saturday concert venue in Hyde Park

Church of the Holy Family — The Sunday concert venue in the South Loop