Chamber Choir to Perform Bach, Brahms, Others at St. James Place

Johann Sebastian Bach

(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) — The Cantilena Chamber Choir will showcase the music of Bach, Brahms, and other composers at Saint James Place on Sunday, March 26, at 3pm. The concert will highlight the more famous works by these two composers, comparing Bach’s compositional technique and how it influenced the work of Brahms 100 years later. This is the inaugural choral concert at the newly renovated performance venue.

On the program will be Bach’s Cantata #4 Christ Lag in Todesbanden and the double choir motet Ich lasse dich nicht and their corresponding works the Brahms motets O Heiland Reiss die Himmel auf and his Opus 29 no 1 and 2 Est ist das Heil uns Kommen her.

Also on the program is the motet Ay Que Dolor by Juan Cererols that predates the opening of the Bach St. Matthew Passion yet is strikingly similar. Rarely heard works of composers Robert Pearsall and 16th century Portuguese composer Manuel Cardosa will be included.

Concert tickets are $15 and free for children 12 and under. Phone: 518-791-0185; email satbchoir@yahoo.com.

Saint James Place, at 352 Main Street, Great Barrington, was created to save the historic St. James Episcopal Church & Parish House, and to preserve and repurpose the buildings’ use as a prominent home, creative hub and year-round performance venue for cultural and educational nonprofit organizations.

The Cantilena Choir, now in its thirteenth season, is the recipient of a Peers grant award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for this concert, the only Berkshire choir so honored. It is also a two-time winner of the prestigious Choral Arts New England’s Alfred Nash Patterson Award for unique programming. Andrea Goodman, the founder and director of the choir, also serves as music director for the annual summer Saratoga Choral Festival in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.