Concord250 Event: Concord Chorus Concert “Ernest Bloch: Sacred Service”, subtitled: “Together in the Light”

The Concord Chorus Spring Concert will take place at St.Camillus Parish Church, 1185 Concord Turnpike, Arlington (formerly Menotomy in Revolutionary America) right along the path of British soldiers in their march to Lexington and Concord in April of 1775.

Continuing our emphasis on British and American composers still heard ’round the world, the concert will feature the music of two modern American composers, who happen to be teacher and student. The student was Randall Thompson, whose essential Alleluia, Ye Shall Have a Song, and The Last Words of David will serve as a prelude to a major work by one of his teachers, the Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch. Bloch’s beautiful, expansive, and moving Sacred Service is an artistically revolutionary setting of the Jewish liturgy for the Sabbath. These two composers’ works illustrate the progression from the British traditions and styles the Chorus sang in its Winter Concerts, as well as the inclusion of all faiths and philosophies seeking peace, unity, and joy. In this music, audiences will experience two American composers who are groundbreakers and standard-setters in the development of contemporary choral music: music that will still be heard ’round the world for many years to come.