The Gustavus Choir, Gregory Aune, conductor
The Gustavus Choir, under the direction of Dr. Gregory Aune, will present its spring concert on Honors Day, Saturday, May 2, at 3:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus. This year’s performance, “Darkness & Light,” will include solo performances by members of the choir and accompaniment by a chamber string ensemble, piano and organ. Saturday’s performance is part of the College’s annual Honors Day celebration. Tickets are not required for this performance.
Saturday’s “Darkness & Light” concert was programmed around one of Benjamin Britten’s most well-known and most-performed choral works, Rejoice in the Lamb. Britten composed the cantata in 1943 based on the poem Jubilate Agno by poet Christopher Smart. Smart, who struggled with mental illness and was hospitalized for several years, wrote Jubilate Agno while a patient in an English asylum. As difficult as it is to imagine within the walls of an 18th century asylum, Smart’s Jubilate Agno represents a whimsical religious spirit focused on God’s creation; “my Cat Jeoffry” and the “the Mouse is a creature of great personal valour.” Or, as written by Rev. Walter Hussey, it is the “praise and worship of God by all created beings and things, each in his own way.” Composed in 8 movements, Rejoice in the Lamb, features solos by the four voices of the choir: soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
“Darkness & Light” opens with Karin Boye’s Evening Prayer by Norwegian composer Egil Hovland, followed by Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb. The string ensemble will then join the choir to present two works by W. A. Mozart, Alma dei creatoris and Misericordias Domine. The concert will continue with Stars I Shall Find by Mankato composer, David Dickau, A Summer Night, and You, and Paradise, with text by Garrison Keillor and This Little Light, the Moses Hogan arrangement of the traditional spiritual. The Choir’s Honors Day concert will conclude with Brandon Waddles’ rocking arrangement of the American spiritual, Hold out Your Light and John Bertalot’s hymn tune Abide with Me.
Admission to the Gustavus Choir’s “Darkness & Light” concert on Saturday, May 2 is free and the public is cordially invited to attend this celebration of choral music. The concert begins at 3:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. This performance will be live-streamed at: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/gacadmin/