PORT ANGELES — Peninsula Singers will celebrate a special day with the chorus’ rendition of the cantata, “Hodie,” on Sunday.
Hodie means “this day” in Latin.
“’This day’ refers to Christmas, of course,” said Maestro Dewey Ehling.
Orchestration for the Singers’ first concert of the season will be provided by the Port Townsend Community Orchestra, which Ehling also conducts, when “Nowell” is presented at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Port Angeles High School auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and students, with children younger than 12 admitted free.
Tickets are available in advance and at the door.
“Hodie” was written by “one of Great Britain’s greatest composers,” Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ehling said.
Ehling chose the title of the concert, “Nowell,” from the Latin text in the cantata’s prologue.
“It starts off with a shout of ‘Nowell,’” Ehling said, explaining that the Latin word means “Noel” in English.
The hour-long cantata was first sung in concert Sept. 8, 1954, four years before the composer’s death at age 86.
It combines soloists and chorus with orchestra.
“It is a dynamic work,” Ehling said, and the composer’s last major choral-orchestral composition.
The cantata and the other choral music on the program will be sung in English, except for the prologue in “Hodie,” which has a Latin text.
“Hodie” — written for chorus, soprano, tenor and baritone soloists, a trebles ensemble and symphony orchestra — will make up the second half of the concert.
The first part of the concert will include “Fantasia on Christmas Carols,” written for baritone — which will be performed by soloist Joel Yelland — and chorus and two songs by Dave Brubeck from his album “La Fiesta de la Pasada,” “Gloria” and “Sleep, Holy Infant, Sleep.”
Pianist Linda Dowdell will provide accompaniment.
This first part will close with Alfred Burt’s carols, a series of Christmas cards in musical form that he wrote to his relatives.
Ehling, who first conducted “Hodie” about 40 years ago, said he has never forgotten the beauty of the music and the text, taken by the composer from the works of John Milton, Miles Coverdale, Thomas Hardy, George Herbert and William Drummond.
“He used the work of the best writers of English literature,” Ehling said.
Many of the words are from the Bible as well.
The audience will be presented a complete copy of the text to follow along with the music.
The narration in “Hodie” will be sung by six singers from the chorus: Lauretta Ehling, Dorothy Hensey, Elizabeth Perez, Sharon Fritschler, Valerie McRoberts and Vicki Helwick.
The narration is similar to a recitative used in oratorio — it moves the story line forward.
The narration is accompanied by organ, played by Dowdell.
In addition to Yelland, soloists will include soprano Linda Grubb, tenor Trent Pomeroy and sopranos Leona Voss and Jaie Livingstone.
“Hodie” is one of the most demanding pieces the Peninsula Singers have ever performed, said Ehling, now in his 26th year conducting the group.
In the past, the Singers have performed “St. Matthew Passion” and “B Minor Mass,” both by Bach, as well as the complete “Messiah” by Handel, and other pieces by major composers.
One of the most inspiring pieces in the cantata is “The March of the Three Kings,” Ehling said.
“It includes much fanfare and description of the kings and the gifts they bring to the king of kings,” he said.
The chorus and orchestra combine to shout, “Crowning the skies the star of morning, star of dayspring calls, lighting the stable and the broken walls where the prince lies.”
At another time the chorus shouts: “He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest, Emmanuel, God with us!”
The chorus is made up of 43 singers, and the orchestra includes a full symphony.
Advance tickets are available at Elliot’s Antique Emporium, 135 E. First St., in Port Angeles and at Hart’s Fine Books, 161 W. Washington St. in Sequim.
They also can be purchased from members of the Peninsula Singers.
For more information about Peninsula Singers, see www.peninsulasingers.org.
________
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
