Here's something you might be interested in.
On Good Friday I got a chance to sing a piece of music I've always wanted to sing. The piece was Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ. I was invited to sing at Church of the Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe.
Some might say this music is cheap or campy and in one sense they'd have a point. Dubois was not a progressive composer. Quite the opposite. When Debussy's opera Pelleas et Melisande came out, Dubois forbid his students from attending.
Does that policy ever bear fruit? For the record, none of Dubois' students were memorable composers.
So what merit does The Seven Last Words have? I can't put a finger on it but works. Baritone and tenor soloists take turns being Jesus while the chorus is part- time angry mob and part-time reverent commentators. The soprano soloist is something of a muse.
The soloists in this concert were Ed Badrak, Chad Frisque, and Natalie Mann. They all sang well but I was particularly impressed with Ms. Mann's performance.
Music director Paul Batchelor accompanied on the organ and mercifully cut a chunk of music from "the storm" that follows Jesus' death, aka the campy part.
Maybe some day I'll get to sit in the audience but for now singing it was a great experience.
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US
On Good Friday I got a chance to sing a piece of music I've always wanted to sing. The piece was Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ. I was invited to sing at Church of the Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe.
Some might say this music is cheap or campy and in one sense they'd have a point. Dubois was not a progressive composer. Quite the opposite. When Debussy's opera Pelleas et Melisande came out, Dubois forbid his students from attending.
Does that policy ever bear fruit? For the record, none of Dubois' students were memorable composers.
So what merit does The Seven Last Words have? I can't put a finger on it but works. Baritone and tenor soloists take turns being Jesus while the chorus is part- time angry mob and part-time reverent commentators. The soprano soloist is something of a muse.
The soloists in this concert were Ed Badrak, Chad Frisque, and Natalie Mann. They all sang well but I was particularly impressed with Ms. Mann's performance.
Music director Paul Batchelor accompanied on the organ and mercifully cut a chunk of music from "the storm" that follows Jesus' death, aka the campy part.
Maybe some day I'll get to sit in the audience but for now singing it was a great experience.
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US