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HOPE: Chor Leoni's 15th Annual Remembrance Day Concerts

Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur: Only three places of many in our modern world where strife and warfare seems all-encompassing. As we approach another Remembrance Day, named long ago to commemorate “the war to end all wars,” it is tempting to give in to despair. Is our deep desire for peace and its actuality an impossibility? That is the question our artistic director has chosen to explore in HOPE, the opening concerts of the choir’s new season.

“The inspiration for HOPE came from Emily Dickinson's well-known poem of the same name,” Diane says. “I appreciated the way she compared hope to a bird - implying that the bird's song (or hope), does not fail us but is always possible. In these times, where the quest of peace seems more and more unlikely, this poem and its message of eternal hope seemed to bring the encouragement we all need.”

This concert acknowledges the conflict around us, remembers peacekeepers and soldiers who have lost their lives in it, and offers consolation and hope to all who have suffered loss. This sentiment is most directly conveyed in selections from Pavel Chesnokov’s Panihida No. 2, the affectingly beautiful setting of the Russian Orthodox Memorial service.

Diane has chosen works ranging from powerful to delicate to illuminate the concert’s theme. The imagery of Beethoven’s O welche lust, from the opera Fidelio, has prisoners exulting in the light as they rejoice in their temporary freedom after being kept underground for years, while the twentieth century setting of Dickinson’s Hope is a Thing with Feathers, by Finnish composer Rautavaara cannot help but have concert goers quietly moved with its thoughtful ending.

Other works on the program include Alice Parker’s robust setting of Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal, which draws on the traditions of American shaped-note singing, and Christmas in the Trenches, which features Christopher Gaze as soloist. (The latter is sure to move you, so come forearmed with handkerchiefs.)

As always the concert will open with For the Fallen by Sammes and close with Rupert Lang’s beloved Kontakion, and carefully chosen readings will intersperse the music. “Our aim is to commemorate, uplift and console,” says Loomer. “Our wish is that everyone leaves with the realization that the times are never too dark to sing – or to hope.”

Saturday November 10, 2007 @ 7:30 pm
Christ Church Cathedral
690 Burrard St, Vancouver BC

Sunday November 11, 2007 @ 3 pm
West Vancouver United Church
2062 Esquimalt Ave, West Vancouver BC

Tickest * $28 Adults * $23 Students/Seniors
    * Veterans admitted free

Available from ticketmaster (604) 280.3311
service charges applicable
General Admission

For the November 10th performance, $20 tickets for seating in the Cathedral’s chancel will be available at the door 15 minutes before concert start time on the evening of the performance. These seats offer great sound but limited sight lines as they are behind the choir.

Posted by bruce on November 2, 2007 at 10:57 PM
Filed in: Performances | Permanent Link