Tuesday, January 10th marks the beginning of the Athens Choral Society's Spring season. We will be peforming John Rutter's "Mass of the Children" and Paul Moravec’s " Songs of Love and War" featuring trumpeter Brandon Craswell. Practices are Tuesday evenings from 7pm-9pm at the Athens Area Council on Aging. A map to the rehearsal space can be found here.

 

Mass of the Children

Many people believe that "Mass fo the Children" is John Rutter's most powerful composition. The blending of children and adult voices has been called "mesmerizing". The text is that of a standard Latin Miss Brevis (a Mass without a Credo section) with several English poems included. The work was completed in 2003 and first performed at Carnegie Hall. It was the first major work that Rutter completed after nearly two years of silence following the tragic death of his son Christopher. While not written as an elegy for his son, Rutter says that "more than one person has come up to me and said they can sense Christopher written all over it." As is typical with a Rutter work, the piece includes flowing melodies, interesting rhythms, and harmonies with a "pop" feel to them.

Songs of Love and War - an Athens premiere
for Baritone Solo, SATB Chorus, Trumpet & Strings

The Choral Society premiere's Movavec's "Songs of Love and War" a powerful 1997 piece, written using letters sent to and from soldiers in four American wars: Vietnam (son to mother), World War II (wife to husband), World War I (a Marine's condolences to a fallen comrade's mother), and the Civil War (husband to wife). Moravec, winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Music, wrote the piece to include a trumpet solo, here performed by Brandon Craswell.

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Athens Choral Society is one of Athens' few non-audition community choirs. The group is directed by Stephen Mitchell and accompanied by Sara Lorusso.