The Shedd Choral Society is a repertoire reading ensemble, focusing on great Western choral music in a traditional setting. Led by Shedd faculty member Amy Adams and accompanied by Bruce Haines, the ensemble explores works by Bach, Vivaldi, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Handel, and many others. Non-auditioned and open to adult choral musicians at any level, rehearsals focus on learning choral parts and conclude with an informal performance that is free and open to the public.
WINTER, 2017
"Laudate Jehovam Omnes Gentes" (Psalm 117), TWV 7:25
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
As a composer Telemann was prolific, providing an enormous body of work, both sacred and secular. This included 1043 church cantatas, and settings of the Passion for each year that he was in Hamburg, (46 in all!) He met Georg Friedrich Händel while traveling to Leipzig and they became friends. He was also a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, and came to be godfather to his second son. In these days Bach is considered to be the greater composer, but during their lives Telemann was regarded as more significant.
With just two verses and sixteen words in Hebrew, Psalm 117 is the shortest of all 150 psalms. Telemann makes the most of the brief text by setting it in three distinct movements, each giving ample opportunity for text repetition and displaying a distinct mood, while remaining rhythmically intense.
The term-end performance will be Tueday, March 21, 6:30 pm, in The Jaqua Concert Hall.
SPRING, 2017
“Six Choral Folksongs”, H.136, Op.36b
Collected by George Gardiner (1852-1910)
Arranged for mixed voices by Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Holst, together with his friend Ralph Vaughan Williams and many other English composers, embraced their country’s folksong tradition by making arrangements of the tunes for choirs, and bands. As Holst arranged these songs he had recently completed the behemoth orchestral suite
The Planets which would later bring him great fame.
1. I Sowed the Seeds of Love
2. There Was a Tree
3. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
4. The Song of the Blacksmith
5. I Love My Love
6. Swansea Town
There will be no meeting on Easter Sunday, April 16.
The term-end performance will be Sunday, June 11, 6:30 pm, in The Shedd Recital Hall.
SUMMER, 2017
Stabat Mater, RV 621
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Simply serene, occasionally subdued and always moving, Vivaldi's Stabat Mater (a 13th-century poem written about Mary's suffering during Jesus' crucifixion) is almost stark by Baroque standards. Vivaldi composed it around 1712. The composition is divided into eight sections. The melodies of sections 1 to 3 are repeated in sections 4 to 6.