Crescendo - Christmas Oratorios and Contemporary Voices

Crescendo, the award-winning music organization based in Lakeville, Conn., presents two concerts with festive Baroque holiday music for chorus, soloists and orchestra to conclude the year, in Lakeville on December 28 and at Saint James Place in Great Barrington on December 29. This program includes Johann Sebastian Bach's "Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen" (Let honor be sung to you, O God), the fifth cantata of his Christmas Oratorio. This cantata is about the journey of the wise men, and the symbolism of light winning over darkness. An important composer in Bach's circle is his mentor Dietrich Buxtehude, the renowned North German organist and cantor. His New Year's, and Johann Schelle's Advent cantatas, Johann Rosenmüller's Magnificat, and Philip Erlebach's Christmas cantata, are followed by a work of the later Jeremias du Grain, a student of Bach's close friend Georg Philipp Telemann. Several of these cantatas are scored for orchestra with trumpets, which symbolized royalty, and also Christ's status as the "King of Kings." In contrast to this stand intimate unaccompanied choral works by the award-winning contemporary female North American composers Emily Drum, MaryAnne Muglia, and Christine Donkin. Crescendo Chorus of thirty singers, is joined by soprano Paulina Francisco (Canada), winner of the 11th edition of Les Jardin des Voix with Les Arts Florissants; countertenor Nicholas Tamagna (Germany), "his meteoric rise in recent years has made him one of the world's most fascinating alto voices" (Operabase); Gene Stenger (Connecticut), tenor, hailed as an "impressive tenor" (The New York Times) who sings with "sweet vibrancy" (The Cleveland Plain Dealer) and creates "the most lasting moments" (The Virginia Gazette) of the performance. Bass-baritone Douglas Williams (Massachusetts) has appeared as a soloist with some of the great orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Houston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and St. Louis Symphony; and Crescendo Period Instrument Orchestra performs with musicians from New York City, and Boston. The performances are led by Crescendo's Founding Artistic Director, Christine Gevert. Christmas cantatas are intended to bring comfort, joy, and a sense of wonder to listeners. They celebrate the true essence of Christmas of unity, love, and hope through the power of music. Performed at religious and secular occasions, cantatas originated in Italy in the 17th century as intimate works for solo voices and minimal instrumental accompaniment. They quickly spread to other European countries, and developed into large dramatic works with multiple soloists, chorus and orchestra. A culmination of this genre is undoubtedly Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio, part of which stands at the center of this program. Cantatas by his predecessors and contemporaries showcase the festive themes of Advent, Christmas and the New Year in different ways. Get ti