Winter, 2012

Germany by Train, The German Partsong

In the nineteenth Century, Germany and Austria were awash in song. Not only was the new piano fueling composers’ passion for writing Lieder, or art songs for voice and piano, but the rising middle class was creating a new tide of people with more leisure time and broader artistic and intellectual interests. Combined with a rediscovery of music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, these conditions created fertile ground for choral music. German composers such as Haydn, Schubert, and Bruckner composed a rich array of partsongs, pieces for the new mixed church choirs and large choral societies that were becoming popular throughout German-speaking countries. We will perform music by the best of these composers, featuring several shorter works plus Brahms’ breathtaking Warum ist das lich gegeben.

Saturday, March 3, 8 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth), BERKELEY

Sunday, March 4, 4 PM St. Francis Lutheran Church 152 Church Street (between Duboce & Market), SAN FRANCISCO

Program

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Partsongs Die Warnung (SATB) Die Harmonie in der Ehe Aus dem Dankliede zu Gott (SATB)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Two Goethe partsongs Sehsucht, D656 Chor der Engel, D440

Fanny Hensel (1805-1847): Gartenlieder, selections Lockung, Op 3, 1 Schöne Fremde, Op 3, 2 Abendlich schon rauscht der Wald, Op 3, 5

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896): Three Graduals for the Church Year Locus iste a Deo factus est Os Justi meditabitur sapientam Christus factus est pro nobis obediens

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903): Sechs geistliche Lieder (1881), selections Aufblick (#1) Einklang (#2) Resignation (#3)

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Zwei Motetten, Op. 74, 1 Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Müseligen

Fall, 2011

Christmas Cruise: Around the World

Traditional Christmas songs from countries around the world: Join Sacred & Profane as we travel to the far reaches of the globe, performing eighteen traditional Christmas carols and other holiday songs in fourteen languages from seventeen countries. These carols come from as far away as Africa and China, Europe and Latin America, while exploring diversity close to home with an African-American spiritual and a traditional carol from the Appalachians. Our program will feature both well-known favorites, like the spiritual Go Tell It on the Mountain, and works that are little known in the United States, including the original Ukranian version of Carol of the Bells.

Saturday, December 3, 8 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth), BERKELEY

Sunday, December 4, 4 PM St. Francis Lutheran Church 152 Church Street (between Duboce & Market), SAN FRANCISCO

Saturday, December 10, 8 PM First Presbyterian Church of Alameda 2001 Santa Clara Avenue (at Chestnut), ALAMEDA

Program

North America John Work: Go Tell it on the Mountain (Spiritual) Jerone Epstein, arr: Brightest and Best (Appalachian) Gilbert Patenaude: Notre divin Maître (Quebec)

Latin America Lifschitz Arrangements Navida va purimihua (Bolivia) Adorar al niño (Venezuela) Emile Desamours, arr: Noèl Ayisyen (Haiti)

Western Europe England: Bob Chilcott, arr: My Dancing Day Netherlands: Roy Hopp, arr: "Nu zijt wellekome" Spain: Joachin Nin-Culmell, arr: La Virgen lava France: Elliot Forbes, arr: Joseph est bien Marie Norway: Kjell Svanaes, arr: Et lidet Barn saa lystelig Sweden: Olsson, arr: Guds Son är född (from Halland)

Eastern Europe Estonia: Veljo Tormis, arr.: Jõulud tulevad Latvia: Selga Mence, arr: Dedziet skalu, pütiet guni Armenia: Vahram Sargsyan, arr: Khorurd Metz Ukraine: Carol of the Bells

Africa Boniface Mganga: Natufurahi Siku Ya Leo (Kenya, Taita)

Asia - China Pengyou, Ting!

Spring, 2011

The Whole Noyse: Music for Choir and Percussion

Sacred and Profane continues our celebration of the ancient by singing modern settings of classic poetry. The choir will be joined by master percussionist William Winant as we perform two fabulous works for choir and percussion. We will sing American composer Dominick Argento’s I Hate and I Love, settings of poems by Gaius Valerius Catallus, the finest lyric poet of ancient Rome. The ensemble will also perform Swedish composer Sven-Eric Johanson’s Fancies, settings of Shakespearean texts for choir and piano, performed here with marimba instead. As we are never without our signature a cappella sound, the concert will also feature settings of Shakespearean verses by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Karin Rehnqvist, one of our favorite composers.

Saturday, May 14, 8 PM St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 1111 O'Farrell Street (at Franklin) San Francisco

Sunday, December 16, 4 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Winter, 2011

A Joyous Songe: Italian and English Music of the Renaissance

Anyone familiar with the films of Merchant-Ivory and the works of countless English authors knows that the British have always been enchanted by the passionate ways of the Southern European continent. This trend had no small effect on English music of the 16th and early 17th centuries, as its composers adopted the passionate madrigal of the Italians and made it their own. Sacred & Profane will perform sacred and secular music of both countries, featuring William Byrd's transcendent Mass for Four Voices, and works by Tallis, Morley, Weelkes, Wilbye, Josquin, Palestrina, Gesualdo, Monteverdi, and others.

Sunday, February 26, 8 PM St. Francis Lutheran Church 152 Church Street (btwn Duboce & Market) San Francisco

Sunday, February 27, 4 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Fall, 2010

A Baroque Holiday Celebration

Sacred and Profane continues our new tradition of performing great works with orchestra! Join us as we sing masterpieces of the Baroque period, featuring the Bay Area’s finest early music instrumentalists. This very special concert will include Charpentier’s elegant Messe de Minuit pour Noël, Buxtehude’s delightful In dulci jubilo, Bach’s brilliant motet for double choir, Komm Jesu komm, and Psalm 24, a charming motet by “the father of Swedish music,” Johan Helmich Roman.

Friday, December 10, 8 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Saturday, December 11, 8 PM First Presbyterian Church of Alameda 2001 Santa Clara Ave (at Chestnut) Alameda

Sunday, December 12, 7:30 PM St. Mark’s Lutheran Church 1111 O’Farrell Street (at Franklin) San Francisco

Spring, 2010

Madness and Mirth

Join Sacred and Profane as we descend into madness! We will sing such works as Britten’s charming setting of Christopher Smart’s poetry, Rejoice in the Lamb and Danish composer Per Nørgård’s brilliant Wie ein Kind, an avant-garde work with texts by Rainer Maria Rilke an the schizophrenic Swiss poet and painter Adolf Wölfi. We then turn to the lighter side of life with Geoffredo Petrassi’s Nonsense Songs, William Bergsma’s Riddle Me This, Jaako Mäntyjärvi’s Announcements, and other mirthful works.

Friday, May 7, 8:00 pm St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Berkeley

Saturday, May 8, 8:00 pm St. Francis Lutheran Church San Francisco

Winter, 2010

Music of America

While composers from Europe dominated the music landscape from the Medieval era until World War II, many of music's greatest innovators since 1945 have come from the United States. Join us as we sing Samuel Barber's choral classic Reincarnations, Morten Lauridsen's magical Fire Song Madrigals, and American Spirituals arranged by Moses Hogan. We will also perform works by three composers born since 1970: Eric Whitacre, Stacy Garrop, and Loretta Notareschi. We are excite to reprise Notareschi's Italia Mia, commissioned in 2007 and premiered in 2008 by Sacred & Profane.

Sunday, March 6, 8 PM St. Francis Lutheran Church 152 Church Street (btwn Duboce & Market San Francisco

Sunday, March 7, 4 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Fall, 2009

Spain and the New World

Sacred & Profane kicks off our 32nd season with both beautiful classical gems and lively folk music from Spain and Latin America. Our concert will span several centuries and countries, from Medieval Spain to 20th -century Argentina. We will sing ethereal Christmas motets of Victoria, Villa-Lobos, and Busto and rarely heard folk songs from Mexico, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The concert's highlight is Ariel Ramírez' Navidad Nuestra, featuring tenor Jimmy Kansau and the VNote Ensemble.

Friday, December 4, 8 PM St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 2300 Bancroft Way (at Ellsworth) Berkeley

Saturday, December 6, 8 PM First Presbyterian Church of Alameda 2001 Santa Clara Ave (at Chestnut) Alameda

Sunday, December 12, 4 PM St. Francis Lutheran Church 152 Church Street (btwn Duboce & Market) San Francisco

Program

First Half – Mostly Spain

I.    Processionals from Llibre vermell a.    Men: Polorum regina with tambourine b.    Women: O Virgo splendens

II.    Spain/Old World a.    Renaissance – a cappella i.    Guerrero: Canite tuba ii.    Victoria: Ave Maria iii.    Victoria: O magnum mysterium

b.    Greenberg, ed: Three Spanish Christmas Carols of the 16th Century i.    E la don don, Verges Maria ii.    Dadme albricias, hijos d’Eva iii.    Ríu, Ríu, Chíu

c.    Geronimo Gonzalez: Serenissima Una Noche d.    Villa-Lobos i.    Praesepe ii.    Ave Maria e.    Javier Busto i.    Lux fulgebit ii.    Ave Maris stella

Second Half – New World, Folk f.    Traditional/Folk: Max Lifschitz arrangements (1984) i.    Bolivia: Navida va purimihua ii.    Ecuador: Yo soy indiecito iii.    Venezuela: Adorar al niño iv.    Mexico: ¡Miren cuántas luces! v.    Emile Desamours: Noèl Ayisyen (Haiti) g.    Ariel Ramirez (Argentina): Navidad Nuestra