Library of Congress Home Concert
Vintage ’09...
A Very Good Year for Music
February 15, 2009, 3:30 pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Upper St. Clair
The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, celebrating its own centennial season, has the distinguished honor of celebrating the anniversaries of Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn as part of a special concert series in Washington, D.C. Enjoy a special local preview performance at Westminister Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair on February 15.
A 32-voice chamber chorus will participate in “Mendelssohn on the Mall,” a series of performances, lectures and displays commemorating composer Felix Mendelssohn’s 200th birthday, at the Library of Congress.
The choir, directed by Betsy Burleigh, will perform at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress Jefferson Building. Burleigh will give a pre-concert discussion at 6:15 p.m. in Whittall Pavilion.
Asked to present an all-Mendelssohn program, Burleigh expanded the repertoire to include music of other anniversary composers — George Frideric Handel, Franz Joseph Haydn, James MacMillan, Victor Herbert (a former conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) and a commissioned work by Andrew Rindfleisch in honor of the choir’s centennial season.
“It turns out ’09 was a very good year for music,” Burleigh said. “With the exception of the commission, all composers on the program are anniversary composers — either their birth or death anniversary. James MacMillan is 50 this year, Haydn died 200 years ago, Handel died 250 years ago, and Victor Herbert was born 150 years ago.”
“Vintage ’09: A Very Good Year” opens with Mendelssohn’s “Heilig” from “Die Deutsche Liturgie,” and is followed by his “Aus tiefer Noth,” an homage to Bach written in a baroque style based on a chorale by Martin Luther.
Rindfleisch, whom Burleigh described as “one of the most respected composers of his generation,” has written dozens of choral works. “Anthem,” his commissioned work for the choir, sets an English text similar to that of Mendelssohn’s “Aus tiefer Noth.”
Mendelssohn’s “Sechs Spruche,” six motets pertaining to the liturgical year, and MacMillan’s “Strathclyde Motets” are also featured.
The program’s second half is lighter, said Burleigh, featuring part songs from Haydn, love songs from Handel and Herbert, and a folk song from MacMillan.
“Vintage ’09: A Very Good Year” will be previewed in full locally at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 15.
Tickets: $25 (general admission); $35 (preferred seating);
Students - $12; Seniors - $20