French Revolutions

During the stark season of Lent, you’ll enter a vibrant vineyard of music by fascinating French composers as we explore the power of faith, denial, sacrifice, and the promise of deliverance. You’ll hear Villette’sHymn to the Virgin with jazz influences and magnificent music by Durufle and Hindemith. We encounter the divine in bread and wine in O Sacrum Convivium by Messiaen, while Cantique de Jean Racine by Faure invokes visions of fiery revelation. Inspired by the death of a friend, Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence marks Poulenc’s return to Catholicism in dramatic scenes portraying the betrayal of Christ and his sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane. Nearly blind, Vierne wrote his Messe Solennelle with pipe organ using all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, shocking at the time. You’ll enjoy a new work by Composer in Residence, Stanford Scriven. Written for Magnum Chorum, Scriven’s Ce Soir, Mon Coeur, offers a luxurious setting of poetry by Rilke. Join us for a deeply satisfying moment for reflection and renewal.