<music: J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 1>
I want to personally invite you to join us for Bach in Baltimore’s Messiah concert this December. I have conducted 100 performances of the Messiah with choir and orchestra. When I conduct the work I do so from memory. With every performance I have drilled deeper and deeper into the many meanings and treasures contained within the work. Come, hear for yourself what the work so generously showers on all who experience it: join us for our performances on December 7th and 8th. I promise you that you’ll be rewarded with a magical musical journey into one of the world’s greatest pieces of music.
What makes that piece so wonderful? A look at The Hallelujah Chorus, perhaps the most famous chorus within the work, offers a clue. Handel was a great master at finding little melodic and rhythmic ideas that were so powerful that they actually changed people’s thinking as well as how they felt (their ‘mood’). Rhythmic figures such as: it quite effectively changed people’s thinking and changed literally how you felt. Rhythmic figuers such as, Ba Ba Baa Ba Ba Baa, were consistently and effectively used by Handel so often that musicians in the generations that followed named it the “joy motive.” Those musicians joined with the great Baroque composers, Bach and Handel, in the belief that that musical motive makes you, compels you to feel happy. For that reason, Handel employed widely in the Hallelujah Chorus. “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah” Ba Ba Baa Ba Ba Baa Hallelujah.” With the trumpets blazing and the tympani joining in with the strings, oboes and the singers the music is over the top wonderful and powerful.
Bach in Baltimore has two performances this year. They will both be great. The first performance is scheduled for Saturday, December the 7th at 7 pm at First Lutheran Church, Ellicott City. First Lutheran, Ellicott City has a huge parking lot. It’s a beautiful church featuring a circular building assuring great sight lines for all. It will be fabulous. The next day, December the 8th at 3 PM the performance will be at St. Casimir’s Church on O’Donnell Street in Baltimore. St. Casimir’s Church is gorgeous. In addition to the music, prepare to be delighted by the beautiful painted ceiling, the glorious stained glass, and fabulous acoustics. Once again, parking is available. For both performances our superb choir will be joined by fabulous soloists and our amazingly talented orchestra of Baroque specialists.
Come, join us for the Messiah concerts on December 7th and December 8th.
<music: J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 1>