Composers through the centuries have expressed similar concepts, emotions, and ideas in varied ways.
Even in the same historical period, composers have managed to express the same or similar words in
very different ways.
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| Basilica Superiore di San Francesco in Assisi |
Bach and Handel were contemporaries in that era we call “Baroque,” sharing some stylistic elements, but the “Alleluja” from Bach’s motet “Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden” (BWV 230) and the “Hallelujah” from Handel’s Messiah are still very different expressions of the same ecstatic religious utterance.
This contrast in expression forms the basis of "Sacred Music: Ancient and Modern," a choral program the newly-formed Market Square Singers are performing in Italy this summer.
The program includes intentional pairings of sacred works from the Renaissance and Baroque eras with compositions by living composers based on the same or similar texts.
The exquisite 16th-century contrapuntal setting of “Ave Maria” by Josquin des Pres is paired with the lush “romantic” harmonies of the setting by Franz Biebl. A charming Baroque cantata is paired with a stunning
contemporary piece by American Jackson Berkey. Ancient music by Palestrina and Sweelinck is performed along side modern compositions by Morten Lauridsen and Bob Chilcott. Regardless of the era, this program is full of some of the most interesting, powerful and beautiful sacred music ever written.
Market Square Singers will depart on June 17 and return on June 26. Performances will be presented in the Basilica Superiore di San Francesco in Assisi, the St. Zeno Cathedral in Pistoia, the Orsanmichele Church in
Florence, and at Santa Maria Corteorlandini Church in Lucca.
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| St. Lawrence Chapel in Harrisburg |
