BRUNSWICK
The Oratorio Chorale, under the direction of Emily Isaacson, delivered a special Christmas gift to the community on Saturday, December 20, with the Northumba Brass Ensemble and John Corrie on organ.
The concert was performed twice at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brunswick, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
“Sing We Noel” was a series of choral music, a solo piece by soprano Mary Sullivan, who sang “Rejoice Greatly” from The Messiah, and instrumental numbers by organ and brass.
Mary Sullivan is artist in residence with the Chorale for this year’s season, and we will see her again in mid-January when she performs a recital of German lieder, featuring music of Schumann, Brahms, Richard Strauss, and others on January 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Brunswick. She will be accompanied bny Derek Herzer on the piano. Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50 for students.
Both performances of “Sing We Noel” were sold out, and that is fast becoming the status quo for the Chorale under the baton of Emily Isaacson.
The Chorale entered in a candlelight procession, Kings Collegefashion, to “Once in Royal David’s City”. Part of the concert was sing-along of holiday favorites; the remaining concert was highly challenging interpretations of Christmas music.
A highlight was one such interpretation of “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree”, a fairly simple and straightforward hymn written by Elizabeth Poston. But midway through the song, the singers stopped the forward progression of the music and held the note they had stopped on, singing tiny snippets of their voice’s piece. Everyone was doing something different, and the result, an undulating work of atonal attack and decay, was absolutely stunning.
The Oratorio Chorale is fast becoming the most sought-after ticket in the Mid-coast. If you have not yet obtained tickets for the rest of the season, don’t delay. In addition to the lieder concert next month, they are scheduled to do a Bach performance on the last weekend of February, including the Magnificat, and a program of music for choir and percussion in early June.
ghamilton@timesrecord.com
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