A Festival of Masses June 3, 2011

Bay Choral Guild's June 2011 concert showcases three complete settings of the Mass "Ordinary" from the Renaissance, Romantic and Modern eras. Each work is completely unique yet all are surprisingly related in the use of melody and dissonance in dramatic word painting of the sacred texts.

Missa O quam gloriosum est regnum by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1583) is ethereally beautiful, with simple soaring lines and surprising dissonances. Equally lovely is the harmonically lush Mass in Eb, Opus 109 for double choir by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1878), a composer better known for his organ works. Mass in G Major by Francis Poulenc (1937) is rich in texture with flowing melody standing in counterpoint to modern, often dissonant harmonies. Our bonus work, Benedictio, is a Prayer of Benediction, full of fireworks, from contemporary Estonian composer Urmas Sisask.

Join Bay Choral Guild for this enchanting and glorious final concert of our 2010-2011 Season!

Official Website: http://www.baychoralguild.org