Saturday, March 7, 2009 8:00 pm
St. George’s Church
BILLINGS TO IVES: The Shape of American Choral Music
James Bagwell, conductor
The Dessoff Choirs
Looking back to William Billings and other early American composers, this intimately-scaled program explores the development of choral music in this country from the late 18th through the early 20th century, when Charles Ives composed his pivotal 90th Psalm. Featured works include shape-note hymns, Hora novissima by Horatio Parker, and three works by Ives: Psalm 67, Psalm 90, and an excerpt from his cantata The Celestial Country. Period readings lend additional context in depicting how tradition and innovation have shaped the American choral landscape. Come be a part of our first live recording in years.
Read the program notes here, and the program texts and readings here!
St. George’s Church
6 Rutherford Place (East 16th Streeet)
Manhattan
Tickets: $35 Preferred Seating, $20 General Admission
$15 Senior/Student, 12 & Under (Free)
Tickets available at the door!
Read on for the full program....
William Billings (1746-1800):
Modern Music (The Psalm Singer’s Amusement, 1781)
Chester (The Suffolk Harmony, 1756)
Jordan (The Suffolk Harmony, 1786)
Oliver Holden: Ode on Music (American Harmony, 1792)
Samuel Holyoke (1762-1820): Sandusky (The Massachusetts Compiler, 1795)
Andrew Law (1748-1821): Bunker Hill (Worcester Collection, 1786)
Anon.: Washington (Repository of Sacred Music, 1813)
Horatio Parker (1863-1919): Urbs Syon unica from Hora Novissima (1893)
Charles Ives (1874-1954):
Glories on Glories from The Celestial Country (1902)
Psalm 67 (1897)
Psalm 90 (1923-24)
Randall Thompson (1899-1984): The Last Words of David (1949)
Norman Dinerstein (1937-1982): When David Heard (1975)
Miss M. Durham (1851-1901): Promised Land (Southern Harmony, 1854)
J. H. Moss: Singing School (The Social Harp, 1855)
Anne Steele (1716-1778): Distress (1760)
William Walker (1809-1875): Saints Bound for Heaven (Original Sacred Harp, 1884)
Henry Clay Work (1832-1884): Marching Through Georgia (1865)
George Fredrick Root (1820-1884): The Battle Cry of Freedom (1862)
Walter Kittredge (1834-1905): Tenting on the Old Camp Ground (1864)
Robert Lowry (1826-1899): Beautiful River (1864)
Anon.: Jerusalem (Social Harp, 1855)
John McCurry (1821-1886): Weeping Mary (Social Harp, 1855)
A. Marcus Cagle (1884-1968): Soar Away (Original Sacred Harp, 1971)
Anon.: Hallelujah (Original Sacred Harp, 1844)