To conclude its 21st season, Chicago's acclaimed chamber choir Bella Voce offers a fascinating program of a cappella music by Johannes Brahms, side-by-side with early music from Brahms' own library. Led by Artistic Director Anne Heider, Bella Voce will perform Friday, April 23, at 8 p.m. in St. Clement's Church, 642 W. Deming Place.
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) needs little introduction to classical music fans, who have made his "German Requiem" one of the most beloved works in the entire canon of choral-orchestral music. However, many don't realize that Brahms learned the craft of composition, not from teachers, but from his own independent study of early music. He studied early music, not just to know it for its own sake, but also to find out what made it work and to apply the techniques in his own writing. As a young man, he spent what money he could at second-hand booksellers' stalls. He copied out substantial works (by hand, of course) from sources he was unable to purchase. Mentors such as Clara Schumann would occasionally buy him music or books as gifts. Over the years he gathered a personal library of more than 2,000 volumes that included German folksongs and folk melodies as well as rare early music prints and manuscripts.
Dr. Heider has put together a program that places Brahms' choral music side-by-side with early music from his own library which he studied, annotated, and performed. Motets based on Lutheran chorale melodies clearly demonstrate the influence of J.S. Bach. Brahms' late double-choir motets show his discovery, late in life, of double-choir psalm-settings by Heinrich Schutz. Brahms' fascination with early music included secular as well as sacred works, as Bella Voce's concerts will show. The program includes works by Renaissance masters Heinrich Isaac, Jakob Handl, and Johannes Eccard; Baroque masters Giovanni Gabrieli, Heinrich Schutz, and Johann Sebastian Bach; and—of course!—19th-century master Johannes Brahms.
Bella Voce's mission is "to entertain, to inspire, and to educate, through the performance of choral music." The group was founded in 1982, under the name His Majestie's Clerkes, for the performance of English a cappella music of the Tudor period. The ensemble quickly broadened its repertory to include choral music from all eras and from around the world, while continuing its commitment to historically informed, professionally polished performances in original languages. Director Anne Heider was a founding singer of the group and became its leader in 1989. Heider is also Resident Choral Conductor at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of Performing Arts.
Tickets are $25; Seniors (65+) $20; Students $10. To purchase tickets and for more detailed information, please call Bella Voce's office at (312) 461-0723 or visit bellavoce.org. |
