1st Concert of the Season

Today was a great day for singing. The group did two of our new works for the 2007 season:

• Spaseniye Sodelal, by Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov, and
  


• The Last Words of David by Randall Thompson

We sang the former in Russian; luckily, one of our 2nd Tenors got his PhD in Russian, so he taught us how to pronounce the text, which translates to "Salvation is created in the midst of the earth, O God. Alleluia." What I didn't know about the piece until a little while ago is that:

"When communism fell years after his death, and the Russian Orthodox church opened its doors again, Chesnokov's Salvation is Created - a piece he had never heard performed himself - became the unofficial anthem of the church. Salvation is Created is one in a cycle of ten Communion Hymns, Op. 25, and is based on a cantus firmus chant taken from Obihod notnago peniya, the codex that contained the major musical components of the Russian Orthodox liturgical repertoire." [1]

The latter piece is based on 2 Samuel 23:3-4. It is a very dramatic piece with a very forceful entrance. The initial verse says, "He that ruleth over [all] must be just."

Despite this being Memorial Day weekend, we had a good turnout and were well covered in all the voices, and I think we did an excellent job, especially on the Thompson.

[1] Wikipedia contributors, "Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pavel_Grigorievich_Chesnokov&oldid=84721467 (accessed May 28, 2007)