Courtesy photo
Music Director George Case
MUSIC News:
SANTA FE — The Sangre de Cristo Chorale will perform Reformation, the final concert of its 47th season, at 4 p.m., Saturday, May 17 at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Santa Fe.
The 52-voice Chorale is led by Music Director George Case and accompanied by pianist Deborah Wagner.
Reformation will illustrate the 16th -century Protestant Reformation’s influence on composers of the time in the performance of two choral masterworks. German composer J. S. Bach expressed his Protestant spirituality by creating works using the new texts and hymn tunes as illustrated in his Jesu, meine Freude. English composer William Byrd worked for Protestant Queen Elizabeth I but secretly favored his Catholic upbringing, and his Mass for Four Voices is an example of the Latin church music he composed for private devotions. The Reformation’s wide musical influence extended to music of the Catholic Reformation, which will be heard in compositions of Victoria and Palestrina.
Music Director George Case states, “This concert includes some of the greatest music of the Reformation by towering composers at the height of their compositional output. Jesu, meine Freude is a stunning example of J. S. Bach’s most intricate and most devoted writing, composed on a smaller scale than his masterpieces for full orchestra and large chorus. The Mass for Four Voices showcases Byrd’s ability to use unaccompanied polyphony to create music that seems to transcend reality. This is devotional music at its most sublime, and we look forward to sharing it with our audience.”
Tickets cost $25 for adults and students under 18 are free. Tickets are available online at sdcchorale.org. This concert is the fourth and final concert of the 2024-2025 season.
The mission of the Sangre de Cristo Chorale is to entertain, educate, unite, and inspire singers and audiences by performing great choral music. Founded in 1978, the Sangre de Cristo Chorale is among the longest continually performing independent chorales in New Mexico and performs diverse choral music for the educational and artistic enrichment of the audience, the community, and its members.
