Gloria hoch 3: Sinfonisches Chorkonzert

In the organizer's words:

Gloria in Excelsis

"Gloria to the power of 3" Antonio Vivaldi - John Rutter - Karl Jenkins

Choir of the Schwerte Concert Society
Concert Choir of the City of Kamen
Soloists of the Gütersloh Boys' Choir
Neue Philharmonie Westfalen

Conductor: Maik Morgner

The "Gloria in excelsis Deo", the second movement of a classical setting of the Latin mass, is a triumphant climax in every mass composition. In the European musical tradition, almost all important composers have composed great masses with a Gloria, including of course Bach, Beethoven and Mozart or Palestrina and Praetorius, to name but a few. However, the Gloria has also been a recurring theme for many generations of composers outside of complete masses.

In the 100th concert year of the Konzertgesellschaft Schwerte, we will be performing three different glorias in our autumn concert - all three magnificent and inspiring, all three masterpieces of their time.

Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria - probably composed around 1715/1720 - was forgotten for 200 years until it was "unearthed" in 1939 and performed again for the first time. Since then, it has enjoyed growing popularity in concerts and numerous CD recordings. The independent work is divided into twelve movements, which are performed by choir and orchestra with three soloists. With its festive trumpet fanfares, sublime outer movements, fine-voiced solo passages and surprising interweaving of motifs, this Gloria has become one of the most important sacred vocal compositions of the early 18th century.

John Rutter's Gloria was composed in 1974 and is characterized by a turn towards popular music, combining Western church music with the sounds of American popular music. His melodically and harmonically inspired music is characterized by tonal sensuality, expressive dissonances and catchy melodies as well as devotional and jubilant melodies.

The piece for choir and symphonic orchestra is characterized by its large wind section with trumpets, trombones and tuba - which gives the work an enormous sonority and makes "the glory of the Lord" (Latin: the "Gloria") audible. The third movement of the piece ends with a final "Amen", which leads the instruments and choir to the musical climax of the work with ever-increasing intensity.

The Gloria by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins is the most recent of the three Glorias. It was premiered with great success at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2010. This Gloria comprises a total of five movements for solo voice, mixed choir and large symphony orchestra with a strong percussion section. Movements III and IV do not follow the text of the classical Latin mass, but are inserted parts: the Hebrew Psalm 150 (Jauchzet dem Herrn) and the English song "My Lord and Master, I'll sing a song for you" - both performed by a solo boy's voice.

We are already looking forward to this very special concert program - and to the first-time participation of soloists from the Gütersloh Boys' Choir in our "Gloria hoch 3" concert.

The concert is sponsored by the Stiftung zur Förderung der Chormusik, Schwerte and the Landesmusikrat NRW

Price information:

20 € advance booking, 23 € box office