CHRISTMAS CONCERT
at the Lairmont Manor
Proceeds will fund our performance of
Handel's MESSIAH in June 2024.

Saturday, December 9

We open our 20th season with GRACE, a concert celebrating mothers and their powerful and indispensable role in our lives and societies. Motherhood embodies grace in its purest form. Mothers nurture and guide their children, providing them with support and love as they grow. They bring life into this world, displaying great strength and resilience in adversity. The bond between a mother and her child forms an enduring legacy that transcends boundaries and connects people from all walks of life.
 

The profound connection between grace and motherhood and the multifaceted ways grace manifests itself on the mothering journey is at the heart of today's program. We begin with O Eterne Deus, a haunting ancient melody by Hildegard von Bingen, who, through Divine inspiration, was one of the great weavers of ancient music. Benjamin Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia, a musical narrative featuring W.H. Auden's poetry, interweaves with a petition to the protector and advocate of musicians. Ya Eres Mía, the exquisite love poetry of Pablo Neruda paired with the depth and spiritual composition language of Morten Lauridsen, conveys a woman's inner and outer beauty as an object of deep romantic love and affection. Mother's Song and The Seal Lullaby highlight the unbreakable bond between a nurturing mother and her child.

 

The power of bringing life into the world comes at the price of being mortal. Lay a Garland honors the legacy of mothers who have left their earthly existence. Regina Coeli breaks out into a mother's effusive and blissful joy as she gazes at her resurrected child. Javier Busto's ethereal Ave Maria evokes a mother's gentle guidance, followed by an acclamation of joy in Arvo Pärt’s Bogorodiste Djevo, a song celebrating a mother's triumph.
 

Franz Biebl's solemn setting of the Ave Maria honors a mother's strength and resilience. We take a moment to harken back to the nostalgia of a mother's childhood innocence with Eriks
Ešenvalds Only In Sleep. As a final musical offering to mothers, we leave you with Sergei Rachmaninoff's powerful setting of Bogoroditse Devo, expressing a mother's profound grace. We hope that you immerse yourselves in the enchanting melodies and remember that music and motherhood share a profound connection through their ability to inspire, nurture, and uplift the human spirit.

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