Allehelgenkoncert

At this year’s traditional All Saints’ Concert, the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir will celebrate the light of hope that can only be seen in darkness.

Classical music began in the Middle Ages as an attempt to imitate the heavenly song of angels, and the belief that eternity holds a music beyond understanding has always offered comfort and inspiration. The programme for this concert is drawn from that tradition — a musical reflection on life and death in the light of eternity.

Bach’s music was a major inspiration for Johannes Brahms, who in 1877 dedicated his choral work Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Müseligen to the great Bach scholar Philipp Spitta. The entire motet turns around the profound question: “Why?” — If God is almighty and merciful, why is there so much suffering in the world? The piece concludes with a chorale text based on Simeon’s Song of Praise, as paraphrased by Martin Luther. Here, the struggle has ended, and the weary soul finds rest and comfort in the belief that death does not have the final word.

Herbert Howells composed his Requiem for unaccompanied a cappella choir (occasionally divided into double choir) in 1933 for King’s College, Cambridge. The music of the English composer Howells is far more intricate than much other choral music of the period, which still largely followed the Austro-German tradition that had dominated English music for two centuries. His long, unfolding melodies are seamlessly woven into richly layered textures. The harmonic language is modal, chromatic, and frequently dissonant; the overarching style is free, impassioned, and impressionistic — altogether giving Howells’ music a distinctly visionary quality.

The concert concludes with Gabriel Fauré’s radiant Requiem in D minor from 1893: a Romantic masterpiece that gently and confidently sings of eternal peace and the song of angels, with luminous melodies and pure harmonies.

PROGRAMME

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Müseligen, Op. 74 No. 1 (1878)

Herbert Howells (1892–1983): Requiem (1936)

G. Fauré (1845–1924): Requiem, Op. 48 (1887)

Performers:

Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir

Organ: Jakob Lorentzen

Violin: Jon Gjesme

Viola: Iben Teilmann & Ida Speyer Grøn

Cello: Henrik Brendstrup & Øystein Sonstad

Double Bass: Katrine Øigaard

Conductor: Mogens Dahl