I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comforts me. I work with very few elements—with one voice, two voices. I build with primitive materials—with the triad, with one specific tonality. The three notes of a triad are like bells and that is why I call it tintinnabulation.

As in our previous two concerts of the season “Journeys in Belief”, Cantabile will also sing works from the choir’s 20+ year history, including choral favorites from all over the world heard in recent years.

In addition to the Mass in G Minor, we will be performing works by Antonín Dvořák, John Rutter, and Jean Berger, and will be presenting the premiere of Even When God is Silent by Debra Scroggins.

Download audio file (colorado-spotlight-20121104-dies-irae.mp3)

Download audio file (colorado-spotlight-20121104-te-quiero.mp3)

Download audio file (colorado-spotlight-20121104-por-una-cabeza.mp3)

This program will feature Brahms’ colorful Zigeunerlieder and Schumann’s lighthearted Zigeunerleben. Brahms wrote his Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy Songs) based on a collection of twenty-five Hungarian tunes which fueled the appeal of all things Gypsy at the time. The descriptive poetry translated from the Hungarian depicts journeys of love lost and regained, of scenes in the life of these wandering peoples. They are definitely the more exotic counterparts to the Liebeslieder Waltzes, first performed by Cantabile in 2010. Schumann’s Zigeunerleben (Gypsy Life), on the other hand, depicts a gathering of gypsies around a campfire, with a great sense of curiosity and enchantment.

Cantabile will also perform additional beautiful works by Lauridsen, Duruflé, Vaughan Williams and Billings, among others, as well as featuring Stella and Alejandro on Brahms’ slow movement to his third Sonata, a piece written by Brahms at the time of his Gypsy songs. You will also hear the famous Czardas by Monti in its virtuosic version for violin and piano.

Private Reception and Discussion with Director Jim Tusty
Friday, 19 October 2012, 7:00 pm
Private residence, Boulder

In 1991, after nearly fifty years of brutal Soviet occupation, the small Republic of Estonia confronted their occupiers by announcing their independence to the world. Their charge heralded the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union.

Music played a pivotal role in this historic, non-violent transformation. “Laulupidu”, the Estonian song festival founded in 1869, would keep hope alive during the entire occupation. In 1969, 30,000 singers took the stage to sing one exceptional song—”Land of My Fathers, Land that I Love”—in an extraordinary act of non-violent resistance as Estonians raised their voices together as one.

“The Singing Revolution” tells the story of one country’s undeniable thirst for self determination and its unshakable belief in what it means to be free. It chronicles the Singing Revolution movement as both history lesson and cautionary tale. Not only does “The Singing Revolution” tell the story of an extraordinary set of circumstances and events but it also provides an intimate portrayal of ordinary, every-day people who refused to believe that freedom was out of their reach.

About the Filmmakers

James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty co-produced, co-wrote and co-directed “The Singing Revolution”. This is their first feature film. Both separately and together, the Tustys have produced hundred of programs for television, TV commercials, and corporate films.

The film was honored by the Boulder International Film festival as the “Most Inspirational Film” in 2008.

Excerpts from Film Reviews

…Imagine the scene in “Casablanca” in which the French patrons sing “La Marseillaise” in defiance of the Germans; then multiply its power by a factor of thousands, and you’ve only begun to imagine the force of “The Singing Revolution.”—Matt Zoller Seitz, The New York Times

“The Singing Revolution” is an undeniably important film.—Joe Leydon, Variety

It’s one of the most inspirational and powerful documentaries I’ve ever seen.—ReelTalk

Joining us for this concert is guest conductor María Teresa Guillén, one of Colombia’s foremost experts in Latin American choral music. This concert sure to captivate you with the engaging rhythms, stories, and flavors of one of the richest lands in the world.

In Longmont, all proceeds from the performance will go to benefit the Wild Plum Center for Young Children and Families. The program will include a short performance by the four year-old class from the Wild Plum Center.

It is not Cats or Phantom, but Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem stands out as a profoundly moving and sincere composition. Winner of a 1986 Grammy Award for Best Classical Composition, the Requiem explores the Latin text for the Mass of the Departed Souls in a very poignant and dramatic fashion. Please join Boulder’s Cantabile as we bring to life this rarely performed piece in a production which features over 80 musicians, including excellent soloists!

Alejandro discusses the Requiem in an interview with Charley Samson of Colorado Public Radio: Download audio file (gomez-guillen-requiem-promo.mp3)

An excerpt of Cantabile’s most recent concert with Takacs Quartet’s Geri Walther: Download audio file (flos-campi-excerpt.mp3)

Soloists

Maria Lindsey

Jason Baldwin

Bobby Swift

Composer

We know him as the creator of such musical theater favorites as Phantom of the Opera, Evita and Cats, but Andrew Lloyd Webber also produced this haunting Requiem, written in memory of his father, who died in 1982. It is his first and to date only full-blown classical work. He called it “the most personal of all my compositions”.

The performance will also feature the talents of Stella Pradeau, Collaborative Pianist, and Music Director Alejandro Gómez Guillén, violin, performing Beethoven’s Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 23 in A minor, and Liebesleid by Fritz Kreisler.

Geraldine Walther

Additional works by Paul Ayres, including the US premiere of In the stillness

To represent the Old World and the New World, we will sing masterful pieces and arrangements of composers from Europe and America. The Old World is represented by Italy, France, Russia, and Germany, with examples by Duruflé, Wagner, Stravinsky, and Mendelssohn. The New World is represented by American works that display the breadth of choral music in the Unites States with spirituals and hymns featuring well-loved composers Aaron Copland, Randall Thompson, Moses Hogan and Morten Lauridsen among others.

Cantabile believes that a concert should be an active endeavor that deeply touches and reaches everyone. The audience doesn’t just sit at the receiving end; everyone present, including the singers, is able to relate│listen│reveal. Cantabile recounts a story, and establishes relationships; the audience and the singers listen for patterns that will reinforce these relationships; and through this uncovering all become active participants, engaged in the music.