At Riverside Church: CHORAL EVENSONG FOR ALL SAINTSʼ SUNDAY The Riverside Choir

    When:
    November 3, 2013 – November 4, 2013 all-day
    Click to view map
    Where:
    The Riverside Church
    490 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10027
    USA
    Cost:
    Free
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    At Riverside Church: CHORAL EVENSONG FOR ALL SAINTSʼ SUNDAY The Riverside Choir @ New York | New York | United States

    CHORAL EVENSONG FOR ALL SAINTSʼ SUNDAY

    The Riverside Choir

    Featured music: Messe Solennelle by Jean Langlais

     Sunday, November 3, 2013 at Riverside Church

    Free. An offering in benefit of the Food Pantry will be taken at the event.

                    Sacred music and text will fill the soaring halls of The Riverside Church as it celebrates and honors all Saints, known and unknown, during its All Saints’ service on Sunday, November 3 at 5:00 p.m. in the Church’s Nave, 91 Claremont Ave. (bet. 120th & 122nd Sts.), Morningside Heights.

    This seasonal service of communion will include a candle lighting ceremony and reading of names to remember those in the faith community who have departed in the last year.  The evening will be filled with hymns, canticles and spirituals sung by the Riverside Choir and soloists, featuring Messe Solennelle by Jean Langlais and Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Collegium Regale) by Herbert Howells.

    The service is free to attend and an offering in benefit of the Food Pantry will be taken at the door.  For more information contact the Ribverisde Music Department at 212-870-6722 or [email protected].

     

    Choral Evensong for All Saintsʼ Sunday
    Messe Solennelle by Jean Langlais
    Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Collegium Regale) by Herbert Howells

    The Riverside Choir
    Christopher Johnson, Conductor
    Christopher Creaghan, Organ

    Sunday, November 3, 2013
    5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

    The Riverside Church, Nave
    91 Claremont Ave. (bet. 120th & 122nd Sts.)
    Morningside Heights

    Directions: To get to The Riverside Church by subway take the 1 to 116th St. and walk to 91 Claremont Ave. (bet. 120TH & 122ND Sts.) one block west of Broadway.

     

    ABOUT THE MUSIC

    The Messe Solennelle [Solemn Mass] by Jean Langlais belongs to a long French (perhaps even Parisian) tradition of writing masses which involve choir, orgue de choeur [Choir Organ], and grande orgue [Grand Organ]. This style of mass with two organs arose from the rather distinctive nature of musical organization at major French churches. This is characterized by a grande orgue at the west end of the church played by the titulaire [principal organist], forming an essentially separate entity from the choir, orgue de choeur, and choir director based at the east end of the church. The resulting masses can often be very thrilling as they pit the full majesty of the grande orgue against the choir, and also have a fascinating spatial quality owing to the placement of the grande orgue at the opposite end of the church to the choir. There is also a provision for a single organ part, and it is in this form that the work is usually encountered.  —notes by Robert Hugill. Used by permission.

     

    ABOUT THE COMPOSER

    Jean Langlais (1907-1991)

    Blind from the age of two, Langlaisʼ musical talents were recognized early in his life. In 1927 he won a place to study organ, composition, and improvisation at the Paris Conservatoire where he studied with Paul Dukas and met fellow student Olivier Messiaen. Upon graduating he began a career as an international concert artist, and was appointed Organist of St. Clotilde in Paris in 1945, a successor to César Frank, where he remained until 1987. His music is almost exclusively sacred and combines elements of Poulencʼs polytonality, the modes and dissonances of Messiaenʼs music, and Durufléʼs use of plainsong melodies.

     

    ABOUT THE RIVERSIDE CHOIR

    The Riverside Choir is a semi-professional ensemble of fifty singers, a number of whom volunteer their talent and time. Like the church, The Riverside Choir is inter-denominational, interracial, and international. Many choristers are church members and active in other programs. As the Churchʼs principal choral group, The Riverside Choir is in session from September through June and participates in all Sunday morning and special worship events, as well as in concert appearances throughout the season.