Glad Tidings – A Lightly Classical Christmas

December 16, 2010, 8:00 pm

Enmax Hall, Winspear Centre

Glad Tidings – A Lightly Classical Christmas

2010-11 Robbins Lighter Classics

  • Robert Bernhardt, conductor
    Richard Eaton Singers (Leonard Ratzlaff, director)
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Details

The ESO’s holiday concerts have established themselves as must-see events. Join charming guest conductor Bob Bernhardt as he presents a stirring mix of seasonal beauty, including the moving Glad Tidings for chorus and orchestra, featuring narrator Archbishop Richard Smith.

We are collecting donations for the Edmonton Food Bank at all December performances. Please remember to bring your non-perishable food items!

Program to include:

Bass: Glad Tidings
Tiomkin: It’s a Wonderful Life: Suite
Traditional: Chanukah Suite

click for detailed seating mapTicket Information

$71 Dress Circle (A)
$61 Terrace (B)
$52 Orchestra (C)
$38 Upper Circle (D)
$28 Gallery (E)
$20 Orchestra Front (F)
Tickets subject to applicable service charges.

The next Robbins Lighter Classics performance is Tales from Ukraine on January 13, 2011.


Thank you to the generous supporters of this series: Bill & Mary Jo Robbins
Thank you to our series television media sponsor: global edmonton

Thank you to our series radio media sponsor: espace musique

Program Info

TRADITIONAL
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Arr Chris Ridenhour) (2’)*
 
ANDERSON
Sleigh Ride (3’)*
 
JS BACH
Cantata No. 208: Sheep May Safely Graze (Arr Leopold Stokowski) (6’)*
 
TRADITIONAL
Good King Wenceslas (Arr Morton Gould) (3’)*
 
TYZIK
Chanukah Suite (8’)*
Rock of Ages  / My Dredl / Al Hanissim / Who Can Retell? / Chanukah
 
TIOMKIN
Suite from It’s a Wonderful Life (Orch Marquart / Palmer / Russ / Henning) (8’)*
Prologue / Theme / Christmas Eve Finale
 
TRADITIONAL
The First Noël (Arr Carmen Dragon) (3’)* 
 
TCHAIKOVSKY
The Nutcracker, Opus 71: Final Waltz and Apotheosis (6')
 
INTERMISSION
 
BASS
Glad Tidings (35')*
Archbishop Richard Smith, narrator
Richard Eaton Singers

*Indicates approximate performance duration

Program Notes

Our concert in this season of giving begins with a traditional English carol about exactly that – giving. We Wish You a Merry Christmas dates from the 16th century (we’re pretty sure), and is sung from the point of view of the actual carolers, who would go to houses of the wealthy to entertain them with song, hopefully to be repaid with gifts (including figgy pudding, if you go for that sort of thing).
 
While Leroy Anderson’s (1908-1975) song Sleigh Ride seems popular enough to have been around a long time, it was actually written only 62 years ago. In 1948, Anderson was spending an unusually hot July in Woodbury, Connecticut – and wrote this song as “wishful thinking.” Two years later, Mitchell Parish added words to the tune. With words or without, it is one of the holiday season’s most identifiable hits.
 
Leopold Stokowski was a self-taught, British-born conductor who won his greatest acclaim with his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, which he led from 1912 to 1936. He was a controversial figure, often taking liberties with the scores of the works he conducted, but he made the Philadelphia Orchestra one of the premiere ensembles in the world. It is Stokowski, by the way, who is on the podium – even shaking the hand of Mickey Mouse – in the 1940 Disney classic Fantasia. He arranged many works by Bach for orchestra. The aria Sheep May Safely Graze is from one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s (1685-1750) secular cantatas (the vast majority of Bach’s cantatas were written for Lutheran church services, but he wrote several not intended for Sunday worship), known popularly as the “Hunting” Cantata. The aria’s tender melody is presented over a gently rhythmic repeated pattern.
 
The true international nature of Christmas is illustrated in the song Good King Wenceslas. The story comes from the legend of the tenth-century Duke of Bohemia (now known as St. Wenceslas), who traveled with his servant on the second day of Christmas (December 26) to give alms to the poor. The English words are by British hymnist John Mason Neale (1818-1866), while the melody of this popular carol comes from Scandinavia.
 
According to the Talmud, following the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by the forces of King Antiochus IV of Syria, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to last one night in the temple's eternal flame at the temple's rededication. Miraculously, the oil lasted not one, but eight nights - enough time for more olives to be picked, pressed, and consecrated. That is the origin of the Jewish Festival of Lights, Chanukah (from a word meaning "dedication"). Tonight’s Chanukah Suite, arranged by Jeff Tyzik, features several songs from over the centuries of this ancient festival’s rich tradition.
 
Ukrainian-born Dimitri Tiomkin (1894-1979) was one of Hollywood’s most successful film composers in the mid-20th century, and scored some of its most classic films. Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life was released on December 20, 1946 – the height of the holiday season – and its memorable final scene takes place at the Bailey home at Christmas time. Sentimental, funny and sad, the movie was a perfect tonic for an America still recovering from the horrors of the Second World War. Tiomkin’s music, from which we will hear several themes (including the Christmas finale), matched Capra’s vision perfectly.
 
The original version of The First Noël dates back to at least the 17th century, and is about the oldest common carol in the English language. In 1823, William B. Sandys (1792-1874), and Davies Gilbert (1767-1839) edited and added lyrics to create the version we sing today. The origin of the current melody is uncertain. It was first published in a collection of carols in 1833. Its lyrics refer to the account of the Christmas story as told in Luke, focusing on the news of the birth of Christ announced to the shepherds. The orchestration we will hear tonight is one by legendary arranger Carmen Dragon, the longtime conductor of the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra.
 
Like It’s a Wonderful Life, the ballet The Nutcracker has a scene which takes place at Christmas. A young girl named Clara is given a nutcracker as a gift by her mysterious yet kindly uncle, and it comes to life. After battling the evil Mouse King, the Nutcracker, transformed by Clara’s help into a handsome prince, takes her on a journey to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s version of the story, The Nutcracker was the last ballet composed by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). He was not a great fan of this particular work, though it has become one of the most beloved holiday staples. Tonight, we will hear the ballet’s closing moments, in which Clara is taken home amid great ceremony and celebration.
 
An accomplished composer, arranger, conductor and performer, Randol Bass (b. 1953 in Fort Worth, Texas) has achieved an impressive array of performances and commissions by prestigious orchestras and choruses throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the Chicago Symphony, the Tanglewood Chorus, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Dallas Symphony and Chorus. 
 
Glad Tidings was created for use in the Houston Symphony Holiday Pops concerts during the 2003 Christmas season. In describing the work for the Houston Symphony program at which it premiered, Mr. Bass said, “I had always felt a bit odd at Christmas concerts that never really addressed the Biblical story upon which the holiday was originally based.  There seemed to be a need in the orchestral repertoire for a substantial work, the purpose of which would be to tell the actual Christmas story, through words and music, in a way that would satisfy and entertain concert audiences.
 
“Orchestral holiday pops concerts tend to be an amalgamation of many disparate types of music from widely different genres, much of it of the ‘secular’ variety and related more to the general holiday atmosphere at the end of December than to an actual celebration of the birth of Jesus. We thought it would be appropriate to try to illustrate the original, historical event of Christ’s advent through the use of a paraphrased narration, drawn from scripture, enhancing the story through the inclusion of familiar Christmas carols arranged in an appropriately complementary sequence.”
 
The director of the Houston Symphony Chorus, Charles Hausmann, compiled the texts used for the narration of Glad Tidings, which was recorded by the Houston Symphony in 2004 on their own label, with former U.S. President George H.W. Bush narrating.
 
Program Notes © 2010 D.T. Baker, with thanks to Mr. Randol Bass and the Houston Symphony Orchestra for their assistance.
 

Artist Bio

Bob Bernhardt, conductor

bob bernhardt

Bob Bernhardt is the second Music Director in the history of the combined Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, and is currently in his 15th season with the company. Mr. Bernhardt also holds the additional title of Principal Pops Conductor of the Louisville Orchestra, where he is currently in his 27th season. He began his professional career there in 1981 as Assistant Conductor, and has worked with the Orchestra every year since. He was the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic (1995-98), Music Director and Conductor of the Tucson Symphony (1987-95), Principal Guest Conductor of Kentucky Opera (1991-96), and Music Director of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra (1985-1987). His vast symphonic repertoire covers most of the standard canon and his commitment to the music of our time is significant.

He has guest conducted the Detroit, St. Louis, Seattle, Phoenix, Nashville, Colorado, Pacific and Iceland Symphony Orchestras among others, and has been a frequent guest with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Tucson Symphony, and the Boston Pops. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1978. In addition to his work with the CSO, he has conducted the Opera Companies of Nashville and Birmingham. He has also conducted the Louisville Ballet, the North Carolina Ballet, the Jacksonville Ballet and the Lonestar Ballet. Born in Rochester, NY, Robert Bernhardt holds a Master's Degree with Honors from the University of Southern California School of Music where he studied with Daniel Lewis. He was a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of Union (NY) College, where he was an Academic All-American Baseball Player.

Since making his ESO debut in May 2006, Robert Bernhardt has become a favourite guest conductor of both the orchestra and its audience. The 2010 Symphony Under the Sky was the fifth consecutive edition of the festival led by Mr. Bernhardt.

Richard Eaton Singers (Leonard Ratzlaff, director)

richard eaton singersFounded in 1951 by the late Richard S. Eaton, Edmonton’s symphonic choir Richard Eaton Singers (RES) has played a leading role in the cultural community of the city for close to six decades. RES performances have included many Edmonton and Western Canadian premieres of choral masterpieces such as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony. RES has also commissioned and produced world premiere performances by Canadian composers including Mark Sirett’s In Praise of Music, Christos Hatzis’ The Sepulcher of Life, John Estacio’s The Houses Stand Not Far Apart and, most recently, A Song of the Seasons by Ruth Watson Henderson.
 
The choir is honoured to have been associated with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years. This partnership has created many memorable choral events in our city including Britten’s War Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and many previous performances of Handel’s Messiah. In September of 1997, the choir performed Mahler’s 8th Symphony “Symphony of a Thousand” with the ESO to celebrate the opening of the Winspear Centre. In addition to its classical repertoire, RES enjoys performing a variety of music both on its own and as a guest of the ESO. The choir has traveled extensively across Canada, to the Netherlands, and Britain, and has exchanged with other choirs including the Vancouver Bach Choir. A highlight for RES was its participation at Festival 500 in Newfoundland in 2003. RES is looking forward to its performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion on April 10, 2011 in the Winspear Centre.
 
The choir last appeared with the ESO in April 2010.

Archbishop Richard Smith, narrator

archbishop richard smithArchbishop Richard Smith was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 28, 1959. He studied at St. Mary's University and at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax. Ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1987, he pursued further studies in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and earned a Licence in 1993 and a Doctorate in 1998. After some fruitful years of ministry in the Archdiocese of Halifax, he was appointed  Bishop of Pembroke on April 27, 2002 and  ordained to the episcopate on June 18, 2002.
 
On March 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Smith to the Metropolitan See of Edmonton. Archbishop Richard Smith was formally installed as eighth Archbishop of Edmonton on Tuesday, May 1, 2007, Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. He currently also serves as vice-president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. He also freely admits to being a lover of beautiful music.
 
This is Archbishop Smith’s debut with the ESO.

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