Saints & Temptations
Saturday 28 August 2010
Emmanuel College Chapel, University of Queensland
Choral works throughout the ages for saints and sinners
Our program visited the lives of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with all of its wonderment and joy; Rachel, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs; Saint Peter, also referred to as Simon Peter, who was one of the Twelve Apostles and assigned a leadership role by Jesus; Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians and church music; and Saint Stephen, the protomartyr (the first martyr) of Christianity.
Each of these works uses a language that musically represents events in the life of these saints. From the humbling double choir setting of Victoria to the descending chromatic lines of Rachel weeping for her children by de Wert, Charpentier then takes us to the conversation between Peter and Jesus as Peter remembered the words of Jesus, and the reality of his actions became clear. In contrast, we hear the clean fresh palette of sound in Benjamin Britten’s Saint Cecilia, “appearing in visions to all musicians, appear and inspire,” and finally move to Jack Body’s portrayal of the stoning of Saint Stephen. Each composer captures his audience with stunning musical colours, immediately drawing the listener into their, and our, world.
Emmanuel College Chapel, University of Queensland
Choral works throughout the ages for saints and sinners
Our program visited the lives of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with all of its wonderment and joy; Rachel, one of the three Biblical Patriarchs; Saint Peter, also referred to as Simon Peter, who was one of the Twelve Apostles and assigned a leadership role by Jesus; Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians and church music; and Saint Stephen, the protomartyr (the first martyr) of Christianity.
Each of these works uses a language that musically represents events in the life of these saints. From the humbling double choir setting of Victoria to the descending chromatic lines of Rachel weeping for her children by de Wert, Charpentier then takes us to the conversation between Peter and Jesus as Peter remembered the words of Jesus, and the reality of his actions became clear. In contrast, we hear the clean fresh palette of sound in Benjamin Britten’s Saint Cecilia, “appearing in visions to all musicians, appear and inspire,” and finally move to Jack Body’s portrayal of the stoning of Saint Stephen. Each composer captures his audience with stunning musical colours, immediately drawing the listener into their, and our, world.
