Cantata Singers Concludes 2017-18 Season

Cantata Singers' concludes its 54th season with two performances on Mother's Day weekend. Featuring sacred music by Pärt, Victoria, and Harris, the first performance is on Friday, May 11 at 8pm at First Church in Cambridge, and the second is on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13, at 3pm at Church of the Covenant, Boston.

The program begins with Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria's masterpiece, Officium defunctorum. Considered one of the greatest composers of the 16th century, Victoria was born in Avila, Spain, and studied music in Rome under the Jesuits before becoming an ordained priest. He was eventually appointed in 1585 as the chaplain and maestro de cappella to the Dowager Empress Maria in Madrid. His Officium defunctorum was written and performed at the time of the Dowager Empress's death in 1603. The traditional Requiem mass is considered his magnum opus-and his last known composition. The music highlights the themes of mourning and remembrance with beautiful chant lines interspersed with polyphonic textures.

One of the most celebrated living composers of the 21st century, Arvo Pärt's Berliner Messe is a nod to the upcoming centennials of the Baltic Nations. The work was composed in 1990 in response to the "Singing Revolution" occurring in his home country of Estonia. This non-violent movement across the Baltic Nations helped to overthrow the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which had been in effect since World War II. Massive demonstrations against the Soviet regime began in 1987 and featured thousands of participants singing patriotic songs together spontaneously, inspiring the movement's name.

In this potent political environment, Pärt wrote the Berliner Messe for chorus and organ, setting it to the traditional Latin mass text. The text selection was in response to the recent lifting of the embargo on sacred music in Estonia by the Soviet government. The Mass's hauntingly lush and beautiful music showcases Pärt's signature tintinnabuli style, characterized by its mysticism, bell-like quality, and references to chant music.

Concluding the evening's program is William Harris' Faire is the Heaven. A beloved 20th century English composer, Harris was first and foremost a music teacher-his most famous pupils being Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret during their teenage years, as well as composers Herbert Howells and Benjamin Britten. He was also a prolific composer of Anglican church music, including his most famous work, Faire is the Heaven. Written for double chorus, the motet sets text of a poem by English poet Edmund Spenser to elegant and charming antiphonal music.

About Cantata Singers

A singular desire to bring to Boston's listeners music that isn't being heard anywhere else has inspired Cantata Singers' programming for 54 years.

In 1964, that music included the cantatas of J.S. Bach. Today, it may be hard for us to believe, but when Cantata Singers was founded in 1964, live performances of Bach cantatas were quite a rarity. In fact, Cantata Singers' early concerts featured the first Boston performances of many of the cantatas.

Bach's music, from the cantatas to the B-minor Mass to the Passions, remains an essential part of Cantata Singers' repertoire. However, the ensemble's repertoire has expanded to include music from the 17th century to today. Cantata Singers has commissioned 15 works for choir and orchestra-including one that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music-and has presented more than fifty Boston premieres of music both old and new.

Many of Boston's most talented musicians perform regularly with Cantata Singers. The chorus is made up of singers who have careers as musicians, educators, doctors, and architects. Many of these members appear as soloists with Cantata Singers, as well as with other highly respected organizations; some conduct other choruses and orchestras in the area. Although many of our musicians perform actively as solo singers, they choose to sing with Cantata Singers because of the reward they find in performing music of the choral canon at the highest possible level.

Cantata Singers has always focused on the music-be it by Bach, Verdi, Harbison, or Pärt-and its audiences do, too. Our audiences return year after year to hear fresh visions of iconic music, or an intriguing unfamiliar work that is-in fact-quite approachable. Each Cantata Singers concert is often surprising, sometimes challenging, always beautiful, and ultimately inspiring.

Photo Credit: James Luo