Pilgrim Festival Chorus (PFC), the region’s principal community chorus will launch their 2013-14 season with the winter concert A Ceremony of Carols on Saturday, December 7 at 7:30 pm; and Sunday, December 8 at 4:00 pm, at The Church of the Pilgrimage, 8 Town Square in Plymouth. PFC Music Director William B. Richter will conduct the chorus and soloists accompanied harp, marimba and guitar. The PFC’s staff accompanist is Elizabeth Chapman Reilly.
An unfilled harp commission, a World War, and a chanced-upon volume of English poems all contributed to the creation of A Ceremony of Carols, one of the 20th century’s favorite choral masterworks for the Christmas season. En route to New York, British composer Benjamin Britten endured a hazardous ocean crossing, stopping in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he purchased an anthology of British poetry, inspiring the first draft of A Ceremony of Carols. The work, originally composed for treble choir with harp accompaniment, has eleven movements, some of which are for solo harp. The work sets nine poems for voices with texts dating from, roughly, 1300-1600, and language which is more reminiscent of Chaucer than of Shakespeare. The music, however, is in Britten’s own 20th century voice, performed by the PFC in honor of the centenary of his birth in 1913. The popularity of this work resulted in its adaptation for mixed chorus in 1955, the highlight of PFC’s program.
Two other works fill out the program, specifically written as “companion” pieces for the Britten composition. Dancing Day, a cycle of traditional Christmas carols by composer John Rutter, is a setting of six mostly medieval texts for treble voices with harp accompaniment first performed in 1974. Unlike Britten, Rutter chose to use existing carol tunes, some of which date from medieval times, for all of his settings.
In the late 1980’s, American composer Conrad Susa was asked by well-known American choral director Philip Brunelle to write a work to use as a companion to the Britten. The result is the charming Carols and Lullabies of the Southwest, accompanied by harp, marimba, and guitar. The ten carols that make up this work are Hispanic in origin, sung in Spanish and Catalan. The moods of the carols vary from gentle lullabies to the boisterous music of a piñata party for the new baby.
The companion works on the program also present vocal contrast, through the decision made by Richter and Reilly to split the chorus into two parts. Rutter’s Dancing Day is performed by women’s voices only, while Susa’s Carols and Lullabies deliver rich deep tones through a male vocal performance. The broad combination of contrasting voices, instruments and cultural music unifies in the harp accompaniment, and the use of carols to tell the Christmas story during the most joyous of seasons. In its 14th concert season, the PFC numbers more than 80 vocalists, of all adult ages, dedicated to authentic choral singing. Richter and Reilly customize their approach to each season based on the collective sound the chorus produces.
Tickets for the performance are priced at $20.00 for adults, $18.00 for senior citizens and $15.00 for students over 14. Children under the age of 14 are admitted free. Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.pilgrimfestivalchorus.org, and are available at the Plymouth Center for the Arts, 11 North Street, Plymouth 508-746-7222; and from PFC members. To reserve tickets by phone, please call Susan at 774-283-4848. Complimentary refreshments will be served in the church hall immediately following the performance. For more information on the concert or PFC, please visit their website at www.pilgrimfestivalchorus.org, or follow Pilgrim Festival Chorus on Facebook.
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