Oratorio of St. Francis by Adriano Ariani

Sunday, November 11, 2018

The Oratorio di San Francesco, or Oratorio of St. Francis by Adriano Ariani was first performed on October 3, 1916 by the Metropolitan Opera at Carnegie Hall. Ariani, who spent a number of years at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), was a colleague of Toscanini.  He composed a number of works, including the Oratorio of St. Francis, perhaps his most famous.  With a libretto in Latin by Father Sixtus Lagorio, the oratorio was written to honor the 50th anniversary of the St. Anthony of Padua Church in Manhattan, and its founding as the first Franciscan parish in the United States. It features four soloist roles: St. Francis,St. Clare, the Historian, and the Voice of Temptation.

The oratorio had only a brief run, with its last known performance given on April 15, in 1917 at the Metropolitan Opera.  The work's revival and scoring have been a multi-year endeavor, another example of Canterbury Choral Society's commitment to performing sacred music. 

The work is written in 6 sections, covering major aspects of St. Francis’ life: a Prelude/Introduction, the Conversion, the Institution of the Three Orders, Francis and Clare, the Temptation and Stigmata on Mount Averna, and an Epilogue.  We hope you will to enjoy this remarkable work.

Saul by George Frideric Handel

March 3, 2019 at 3pm

Saul saw its debut in London at the King’s Theatre in January 1739.  A three-act oratorio with a libretto by Charles Jennes, it is based on the Old Testament’s First Book of Samuel, and tells the story of the changing relationship of Saul, the first king of Israel, with David, his successor.  Their association, which began as a warm and affectionate one, turned to jealousy and hatred, and was the source of Saul’s eventual fall from power.  A dramatic composition, sometimes staged as an operat, this oratorio includes the well-known funeral hymn, “Dead March.”  Handel envisioned a large orchestra, and its instruments—including trombones and kettledrums— were unusual for the time.  The Handel scholar Winton Dean describes Saul as “one of the supreme masterpieces of dramatic art.” Messiah, a much more familiar work to many of you, was composed just three years later in 1741, with the same librettist, Charles Jennens.  

A Gospel Festival

Friday, May 17, 2019 at 7pm

This concert is a departure from Canterbury's usual programming in several ways. First, the music itself-- very 20th-21st Century sacred music, featuring Rollo Dilworth’s Bound for Glory accompanied by Steven Graff on the piano and a jazz ensemble. This work was commissioned by Canterbury and first performed at Carnegie Hall on November 18, 2017. The concert will also feature selections from Duke Ellington’s Second Sacred Concert, first performed at St. John the Divine in 1968. Also featured at this concert is Full Freedom by Nicholas White, a piece for multiple choirs, instrumentalists and dancers, written for the annual choral tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in January 2002 at The Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.)

So, the music is sacred, but in a very different vein from our traditional choral music. Secondly, the concert will be held not on Sunday afternoon, as is the norm, but on Friday evening. Both the music and the timing of the performance reflect Canterbury's efforts to offer sacred music in a sacred space to ever-expanding audiences. We are pleased to be joined once again by The New Amsterdam Boys & Girls Choir and the St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s Choir.