Los Angeles Master Chorale - Rejoice December 14, 2008

A quartet of seasonal classics – Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity, John Rutter’s Gloria, Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium and Pinkham’s Christmas Cantata – are among the selections featured at the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s annual holiday concert on Sunday, December 14, 2008, 7:00 p.m., at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Chorale’s Music Director Grant Gershon conducts along with Assistant Conductor Ariel Quintana.

Christmas Cantata captures the essence of the season with its Latin texts and joyful color, and variety and pace of its music. Daniel Pinkham, a central figure in Boston’s music community for six decades, composed the work in 1957, when he was teaching at Harvard. It is scored for chorus and double brass choir. In Pinkham’s 2006 obituary, The Boston Globe states, “His music won admiration for its ability to engage a wide audience beyond the small circle of connoisseurs following the latest trends in contemporary music.”

Performing Respighi's Laud to the Nativity, the Chorale is transformed into a chorus of angels conversing with the Christmas Angel and Mary. The work, which incorporates madrigal, chant and melodic forms created centuries earlier, is based on a text written by Jacopone de Todi, a 13th century Franciscan monk who had dedicated his life to writing praise poetry (laude) after the tragic death of his pious wife.

Lauridsen’s a cappella motet O Magnum Mysterium has become one of the world’s most popular choral works since it was debuted in 1994. Notably, it is one of the all-time best-selling choral scores distributed by Theodore Presser, in business since 1783. The music of Lauridsen, who served as composer-in-Residence of the Los Angeles Master Chorale from 1994-2001, occupies a permanent place in the standard vocal repertoire of the 20th Century.

Gloria, by popular English composer John Rutter, became an instant crowd-pleaser when the composer conducted its world premiere in 1974 at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1996, the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred a Lambeth Doctorate of Music upon the noted composer, choral conductor and arranger in recognition of his major contribution to the music field.
Tickets to the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s concert range from $19 to $124. Student Rush seats are $10 and are available at the box office two hours before the performance. For tickets and information, please call (800) 787-5262 (outside California call 213-972-7282), or visit www.lamc.org. (Tickets can no longer be purchased at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office except on concert days starting 2 hours prior to the performance.) The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue at First Street in downtown Los Angeles.

Official Website: http://lamc.org