EVERETT — The second of three 50th anniversary concerts this season by the Everett Chorale includes John Rutter’s large-scale work “Mass of the Children.”
Performances, under the direction of Lee Mathews, are Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at the Everett Performing Arts Center.
The piece is presented by the 70-voice chorale, soloists soprano Linda Tsatsanis and baritone Ryan Bede, an instrumental ensemble (wind quintet, organ, bass, tympani and harp) and the 22-voice Snohomish County Children’s Choir.
The concert has the title of “Celebrate and Shout,” but it has a meditative feel that plays out alongside the joy added by the presence of kids.
“Mass of the Children” was written by Rutter, one of the most popular contemporary choral composers, in the winter of 2002-2003, about a year or so after the death of his teen son Christopher, who sang in his college’s chapel choir.
It wasn’t written in memory of his son, Rutter has said, but people close to the composer described it as having “Christopher written all over it.”
Rutter says he wrote the work as a way to thank other composers for the inclusion of children’s choirs in their music. When he was a child, Rutter sang parts in the Mahler Third Symphony, for example, and he wanted to write something that would give children a similar opportunity to sing with adults.
His “Mass of the Children” includes standard Latin sections — Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Benedictus, Agnus Dei — but Rutter added lyrics from William Blake’s poem “The Lamb” and texts from Winchester Bishop Thomas Ken’s morning and evening hymns.
“It’s like illustrating a whole day or the cycle of a life,” said director Mathews. “Rutter is a terrific craftsman, weaving poems and orchestration together.”
The second half of the concert will include the performance of three sections of a cantata, “Visions of Glory,” written by Ed Harris in memory of Mathew’s late second wife, June Mathews, who sang in the chorale. “Visions of Glory” was commissioned in 2001 by First Presbyterian Church of Everett.
The audience will be invited to join the choirs and soloists in singing the concert finale, “Let There Be Peace On Earth” and “I’ve Got Peace Like A River,” a medley arranged by Douglas Wagner.
Lee Mathews is now in his 23rd season as director of the Everett Chorale. D. Kim Croft is the Everett Chorale accompanist. Diana Lawrence is a chorale member and director of the children’s choir.
The first of the 50th anniversary concerts, “Celebrate and Dance,” was performed December. The final program of the series is “Celebrate and Sing” to be performed June 11 and 12.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
If you go
Lee Mathews conducts the Everett Chorale at 7 p.m. April 16 and 3 p.m. April 17, Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett. More information is at www.everettchorale.org. For tickets, $18 general, or $16 for students, seniors and military, call the box office at 425- 257-8600.
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