Aurora Chamber Singers announces its Fall Concert, “Wake Every Breath”

 

JS Bach	Cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61
WA Mozart	Missa Brevis in F, K 192
William Billings	Creation Wake Every Breath

David Neiweem, Conductor

Saturday, November 16th, 2024 7:30 PM

College Street Congregational Church, 265 College St. Burlington

Accessible entrance is near the corner of College and Union.

The Aurora Chamber Singers will present its fall concert, “Wake Every Breath,” at the College Street Congregational Church, 265 College Street, in Burlington Vermont. The program features sacred choral music by three composers- Johan Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and William Billings–with very different world views.

Bach was a devout Lutheran, guided in everything by his fervent belief in the glory of God. The program features one of his cantatas, Nun komm, Der Heiden Heiland, with a setting by Lutheran hymnist Erdmann Neumeister. Mozart was steeped in the traditions of Catholicism and was commissioned to write music “à la mode” to glorify the reputation of his various sponsors. The Chamber Singers will perform one of his many settings of the liturgical Mass, the Missa Brevis in F. The American composer Billings was born in the last years of Bach’s life and outlived Mozart. Born in Boston, his life there pulled him into the center of revolutionary thought, and his music was sung by heart around campfires and at political meetings up to and during the Revolutionary War. The spirit and vocabulary of the Revolution and spirit of the Age of Enlightenment will be evident in the program’s presentation of his songs Creation (The Continental Harmony), Wake Every Breath (Canon of Six in One), and Be Glad Then America (An Anthem for Fast Day).

We look forward to sharing this gorgeous music with you!