Sunday, March 20th 2:30pm
First United Methodist Church
800 West 5th St., Fort Worth 76102
Free and Open to the Public
The TCU Concert Chorale, conducted by Christopher Aspaas, will perform this Sunday afternoon at FUMC Fort Worth. Our program, Dance On! Sing Praises!, weaves the ideas of dancing, singing and praise throughout, and includes several works also specific to Palm/Passion Sunday.
Two extended works anchor each half: Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb; and, Invocation and Dance by David Conte. Rejoice in the Lamb is a setting of poetry by Christopher Smart (18th century poet) that he wrote while confined at St. Luke’s Hospital for Lunatics. The text creatively explores the ways in which all creation praises God, and Britten uses the organ and soloists from the choir to create an amazing and expressive experience. Invocation and Dance, an amazing work for piano four-hands (played masterfully by Janet Pummill and Amy Stewart) and choir, is a setting of the poetry of Walt Whitman from his When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, an elegy written after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The first part (Invocation) slowly and mysteriously calls, “Come, lovely and soothing death…” with pulsating rhythms and vibrant harmonies. The second part (Dance) sets the text “Praised be the fathomless universe… for life, joy, love sing praise!” with bouncing rhythms in mixed meters.
We are excited to share two premieres: a setting of the beloved Auld Lang Syne by School of Music faculty member, Till Meyn; and, Christopher Aspaas’ setting of the Shaker song “Followers of the Lamb” entitled, Sing On! Dance On! Additionally, we will sing works by J. S. Bach, Jean Berger, Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (inspired by the Swedish chef), Stanford Scriven and John Ferguson.
We hope you will join us for this program!
