Master Chorale To Present Mozart Works, Rare Oratorio By New England Composer

Connecticut Master Chorale, under the direction of Tina Johns Heidrich, will present a concert on Sunday, March 12, at 3 pm, at St Rose of Lima Church in Newtown.

The Chorale will celebrate W.A. Mozart’s 250th birthday with two of his gems, Ave Verum Corpus and Missa Brevis in D. The program will also feature Hora Novissima (“The Newest Hour”), a dramatic oratorio by the New England composer Horatio Parker.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music. His enormous output includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber, piano, operatic and choral music. Many of his works are part of the standard concert repertoire and are widely recognized as masterpieces of the classical style.

Horatio Parker’s “Hora Novissima” was the most famous, best-loved and most often sung American oratorio of the Romantic era, performed more often than Handel’s Messiah in the United States prior to World War I. It is a gorgeous and grand work, with the common thread of glorifying the City of Zion throughout.

With its dramatic sweeps and beautiful melodies, incorporating both lyrical and heroic themes, “Hora Novissima” (1893) shows Parker’s instincts for massed effects — majestic and lush choral writing, full development of hymn-like themes, great fugues and chant contrasted with stunning effect.

Born just outside of Boston, Parker was regarded in his lifetime as the most internationally successful American composer, a superior craftsman writing the most advanced style. Among his many accomplishments, he conducted New Haven Symphony and New Haven Choral Society, and was Dean of the Music Department at Yale University, where he was also the teacher of many prominent American composers.

For the March concert, the Chorale will be joined by professional soloists and accompanied by Connecticut Master Chorale Orchestra.

Among the chorale’s current Newtown residents are Judy Bolduc, Ginnie Carey, Lisa Cedergren, Wendy Fong, Alan Kramer, Nancy Raymond, Dan Yee, and Deborra Zukowski.

Tickets $20 at the door or $15 if purchased in advance. Call 743-0473 or visit CMChorale.org.

St Rose of Lima is at 46 Church Hill Road.