awakening

Since the ensemble’s very first full concert presented at All Saints in January 2014, Chronos has presented an annual mid-winter concert in January as a feature of its subscription season – don’t miss this highlight of the Edmonton choral calendar!

This year, Chronos presents awakening: a collaborative performance with pianist extraordinaire Roger Admiral. The second program in a concert season exploring time – the past, present, and future – awakening is focused on the future, as we celebrate a new year with hope for what’s to come.

This concert features two major works by two of choral music’s preeminent contemporary composers – The Passing of the Year by English composer Jonathan Dove, and Mid-Winter Songs by American Morten Lauridsen – both full of resonances between the seasons of the year and the seasons of life.

Mid-Winter Songs sets five diverse poems by Robert Graves, each with a common ‘winter’ motif encompassing themes of dying and rejuvenation, light and darkness. Full of contrast, this work offers the exceptional choral beauty those familiar with Lauridsen’s writing expect, however, in this instance the chorus is cast in an equal partnership with the piano. Expect compelling contrasts of mood, dense and spicy harmony, and a touch of the profound.

The Passing of the Year presents seven texts by a range of poets in a cycle that outlines the seasons of the year, from the yearning opening “O Earth, O Earth, return!”, through the spring, summer, and winter. This magnificent work closes with a grand and joyous setting of Tennyson’s “Ring out, wild bells”, bringing performers and audience full circle:

Ring out the old; Ring in the new!