Dwayne. S Milburn will conduct the holiday concert at St. Matthews.
St. Matthew’s Music Guild continues its 40th Anniversary Season on Friday, December 6, at 8 p.m. with a lively program of music for the holidays.
The concert, featuring The Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s and Choir of St. Matthew’s Parish, conducted by Dwayne S. Milburn, kicks off with Baroque masterpieces by Henry Purcell and Archangelo Corelli.
The Chamber Orchestra will be joined by choir and soloists in Vivaldi’s effervescent Gloria in D Major. A traditional sing-along of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus will round out the program.
Antonio Vivaldi, a gifted violinist who composed literally hundreds of concertos during his long career, mostly for his own instrument, worked as master of violin at the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for girls in Venice.
While there, he composed most of his major works, including Gloria and dozens of operas. The Gloria, in the festive key of D major, is beloved for its charming melodies and driving rhythms and features operatic arias and duets for soprano and alto – solos that would have originally been sung by the girls in Vivaldi’s charge.
Englishman Henry Purcell composed The Gordian Knot Untied – incidental music for a theatrical production of the same name. Little is known about the play, but it is presumed to have been based on the legend of the Gordian knot, a complex knot tied to an oxcart. According to legend, whoever untied the knot was destined to become ruler of all Asia. According to one account, instead of untying the knot, Alexander the Great severed it with a blow of his sword and then went on to conquer Asia, thus fulfilling the prophecy.
Arcangelo Corelli, who, together with Vivaldi, established the language of Baroque instrumental music in Italy, composed the Concerto Grosso Op. 6, no. 8, known as the Christmas Concerto, for Christmas night in his hometown of Rome. The date of its composition is uncertain and was posthumously published in 1714. The slow movement, a pastorale in a lilting “Sicilian” rhythm, evokes the sense of calm and quiet on Christmas night.
No holiday concert is complete without a rousing rendition of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. The choir and orchestra will lead the audience in a sing-along of the holiday favorite.
The concerts will be held at St. Matthew’s Church, 1031 Bienveneda Ave. Tickets are $45 or a Music Guild season pass. A free pre-concert conversation offered by Music Director and Conductor Dwayne Milburn begins at 7:10 p.m. Visit MusicGuildOnline.org or call (310) 573-7422.