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Wellesley Choral Society (WCS) will conclude its 70th Anniversary season with a gala concert and reception on Sunday, May 13, at 4:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills, 309 Washington St., Wellesley Hills. The Society chose two works for this special concert.
The first is the world premiere of a new work. "Stars," a choral song cycle, was composed by Edward Whalen, WCS music director, especially for this anniversary concert. It consists of six songs set to poems by Keats, Wordsworth, Teasdale, Whitman, Shakespeare and a nursery rhyme. One is a duet, one is for a small ensemble, and the remaining four are written for SATB chorus. The composer says, he was inspired to write music about the stars by the Robert Frost poem, "Choose Something Like a Star," which was gloriously set to music by Randall Thompson. He searched for similar poems and found so many that the most difficult part was narrowing the choices down to the six represented in the cycle. Overall, the work tries to express the beauty, complexity, grandeur, and wonder of the heavens.
The second work on the program is by Franz Schubert. WCS performs his Mass in A flat Major, No. 5, D 678. Franz Schubert (1797-1828), the extraordinarily gifted and prolific composer, lived his whole life in poverty, had no commercial success, and died at the age of 31. Despite the hardships of his life and his early death, he left behind such a vast treasure of musical works that he is considered to be among the very greatest composers of Western classical music.
Though mostly known for his more than six hundred art songs, Schubert composed six masses over the course of his career. The two so-called “late” masses, No. 5 in A flat Major, D 678, and No. 6 in E flat Major, D 950, reflect a growing technical command and musical maturity. The No. 5 in A flat Major, D 678, in which Schubert was pushing beyond the writing of his teenage years into new territory, cost him a four year struggle, 1819 - 1822 — and that for a composer who could dash off several gorgeous songs before breakfast. The entire piece is full of interest and surprise, so that we must agree with one critic: “It is the kind of piece in which one asks, at each successive thrill or shock, whether that one is the most original of all.”
The chorus is accompanied by professional orchestra and soloists.
A reception will follow the concert to which the entire audience is cordially invited.
The Wellesley Choral Society has donated a limited number of free tickets to Wellesley seniors, who may pick them up at the Senior Center on 500 Washington St. Call (781-235-3961) first to make sure tickets are still available.
The church is handicapped-accessible, and there is ample free parking in the church lot and on the street. Tickets may be purchased at the door, and are $20 for general admission, $15 students and seniors. Children under 12 are admitted free. Visit www.wellesleychoralsociety.org for further information.
This concert is supported in part by grants from the Wellesley Bank Charitable Foundation and the Wellesley Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The Fund for Wellesley, an endowed fund of the Foundation for Metro West, supports WCS’s outreach to seniors.
