St. Olaf Choir Concert: Hope for today and for the future

Last night, the St. Olaf Choir sang to a sold out crowd at First Plymouth Church. “Tonight,” said Conductor Anton Armstrong, whose preconcert interview with LincolnCMN can be read here, “this space truly feels like a place of worship.” The concert was more than a concert, in a way, everyone was joined together in a time of prayer—listening and soaking in a “message of hope and light.”

The texts selected varied in language, but certainly all contained the transformative message of love and hope that Armstrong spoke of at the end of the evening. Latin, Hebrew, German, and English were all sung, and the texts ranged from scripture to poetry to liturgical prayers. 

St. Olaf Choir 2016 Winter Tour
courtesy of St. Olaf Choir

The variety of styles made the evening more enjoyable than many choral concerts tend to be when the constant sameness of sound has a numbing quality. From a not-often-heard work by Bach to a Ginastera setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah  to a very unexpected and rousing gospel-style setting of Credo featuring piano and drum set or the beautiful Magnificat of David N. Childs with its ancient text and modern harmonies, the program was designed by a masterful hand. The sound of each new piece was alternately uplifting, exciting, peaceful, beautiful, hopeful, or triumphantly powerful.

Whether the music was written in the 1700s or 2015, the choir was moving with rhythm and emotion flowing through their bodies. An audience can’t help but feel and move with the music when presented with sound and sight that catches them up and draws them along so completely!

In the performance given by these young people, the audience could hear why diction, dynamics, pitch, and the multitude of things a conductor pleads with his choir to do are so important, when done properly, music is created. The details don’t stand out, they are forgotten, and all the listener experiences is simply music—that mysterious art that moves people beyond their own hurts and sorrows and gives them hope. It is clear that whatever transformation may have taken place in the hearts of audience members, the experiences these young college students have from singing in this choir will have a profound impact in who they are as they go out into their various careers. 

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University of Nebraska-Lincoln performers put on Bach's Mass in B minor

A religious man throughout his life, Bach's crowning work, completed during the last year of his life was the Mass in B minor

Credits: By Elias Gottlob Haussmann [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

On Sunday, the University Singers, under the direction of Peter Ecklund, collaborated with the Chiara String Quartet and other performers from the UNL School of Music to perform J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor. Kimball Recital Hall held a large audience, all moved by the powerful piece.

The UNL School of Music provided programs with extensive notes that explained the text and musical settings of each movement. Before the concert began, audience members could read a short history of the piece and why Bach, a German Lutheran, would write a Mass. Not only is the work a spiritual encounter of Catholic and Lutheran devotions, but it is also “a synthesis of every stylistic and technical contribution [Bach] made to music.” This work is sometimes called “the greatest work of art of all time,” and as the culmination of Bach’s career, it is fitting that it is also the last work that he completed in his lifetime.

Gloria from Bach's Mass in B minor

A musical setting of the Mass always covers the same texts called the Ordinary of the Mass in the following order: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei (Lord have mercy, Glory to God in the Highest, I Believe, Holy, and Lamb of God). Bach takes each prayer and divides it into different movements to emphasize each line and sentiment in the prayer.

A number of movements call for soloists: Talea Block and Michala Martin were the soloists for Christe Eleison, a movement for unison violins, continuo, and two solo sopranos. In the Gloria, the text beginning Laudamus te (We praise you) was performed by Kellyn Wooten, mezzo-soprano, and Rebecca Fischer, violin, in a virtuosic style. Later in the Gloria, Allison Harvey, soprano, and Zach Vreeman, tenor, sang a duet with the accompaniment of Stephanie DeMaura on the flute. After a movement with chorus, Katie Mozack Bramsen sang an aria accompanied by William McMullen on the oboe, followed by an aria sung by John Stewart with Joshua Johnson, horn. The Gloria closed with another triumphant fanfare with full chorus. In later movements, Karina Brazas, Cami Phigreen, Andrew Last, Patrick O’Halloran, and Hannah Kurth sang beautiful solos.

The UNL performers did a wonderful job bringing this piece to life with its solos, duets, and choruses with examples of fugues, colossal Baroque style, moments with Renaissance style music, ritornellos, and all the stylistic techniques of which Bach was the master. Many audience members were brought to tears by the beauty of the music.