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.
SPRING, 2017
“Six Choral Folksongs”, H.136, Op.36b
Collected by George Gardiner (1852-1910)
Arranged for mixed voices by Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Gustav 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. Holst, famous for his huge orchestral suite
The Planets, used a number of British folk songs in his compositions and also arranged them for choir. In his hands, these six folk songs are transformed into imaginative and elegant works of choral literature.
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 Tuesday, June 20, 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.