Evento

Voices Aloft - Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 3:00 pm

Our May concert's centerpiece is Louis Vierne's Messe Solennelle, for choir and organ, composed in 1899. The greatest organist of his time, Vierne played and composed for the great Parisian organs of St. Sulpice and Notre Dame; his Messe Solennelle is among the grandest compositions of the Golden Age of French organ composition. No organ in Chicago is more suited to this repertoire than the recently restored E.M. Skinner organ in The University of Chicago's Rockefeller Memorial Chapel; nor is any
organist more suited to perform the work with Chorale than the Chapel organist Thomas Weisflog. A heartfelt and sincere work, the Messe also explores the sonic fireworks of which the instrument and the choir are capable, swelling the Chapel with sound.

This concert will also feature two magisterially beautiful a cappella works: J.S. Bach's double choir motet Komm, Jesu, komm, and Arnold Schoenberg's Friede auf Erden, showcasing the extraordinary acoustic properties of the chapel's lofts.

A free pre-concert lecture will be presented by Elizabeth Davenport, Dean of Rockefeller Chapel, at 2:00 pm.