Directory
Penobscot Bay Singers and Mount View Singers
- Event Start Date
- 02 April 2011
- Address
- United Methodist Church & First Church UCC, Belfast, ME, USA, 04915
- Telephone
- 207-338-0908
- Fax
- N/A
- Website
- http://www.maine-art-exhibits.com/Maine-Music-Performers-Sho
- Visited
- 137
The Mount View Chamber Singers, directed by David Stevenson, will perform a selection of a cappella works ranging from the Renaissance to modern music including American spirituals. The student singers are well known in the area for their Carols in the Round concerts each Christmas season. The spring concert gives them a chance to hone the works they will take on tour to Italy later this year, where they hope to sing the Palestrina and di Lasso pieces in churches where they were first performed.
Richard Dostie will direct the Penobscot Bay Singers in works by Johannes Brahms: Two Motets, opus 29; and “Nänie,” opus 82. The first motet is a setting of a religious poem by Paul Speratus (1484-1551), while the second is based on Psalm 51, verses 12 through 14. “Nänie” is a setting of a secular poem by Friedrich Schiller that tells of the woe of the immortals when their beloved one must die: “that Beauty must fade, that the Perfect must die!” While “even a song of lament … is glory” for the gods, the common folk die unsung, laments the poet. While the sentiments are sad, the music is uplifting and deeply emotional.
The earlier motets are less lyrical overall, but full of intriguing architectural fugues that build dramatically. The “Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz” ends in a joyful romp of runs in each part, sometimes in harmony, sometimes chasing each other for 27 breathless bars. Brahms is challenging but fun to sing, according to chorus members. Linnea Johnson will accompany the Brahms works on piano.
The Penobscot Bay Singers, now in their 37th season, draw their membership from all over Waldo County and occasionally beyond. They offer three concerts each year, two classical/liturgical and a pops. While member dues and concert income help defray the costs of good direction and accompaniment and some music, it is not enough to support the use of other instrumentalists such as the harpist and oboist featured in the Christmas concerts in 2010 or new music. To support such music, donations are welcome. The singers are a 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, write PBS, P.O. Box 5, Belfast, ME 04915.
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