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SACRED MUSIC
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Through the years, opera composers have also created some of the world's most stirring sacred music -- music that expressed their deepest spiritual feelings. One fine example is the poignant "Ingemisco" from the Verdi Requiem, a work created as a memorial to Italy's beloved poet Alessandro Manzoni. Maestro Chung has also included the vivid choral "Sanctus" from the "Requiem." The only truly operatic aria in this concert is one that has long had strong religious overtones, even though in its original context it is a love song to a tree! This is, of course, "Ombra mai fu" from Handel's "Serse," best-known simply as Handel's "Largo." Also from the pen of Handel comes the exhilarating "Hallelujah" chorus from his oratorio "The Messiah."
Often sacred music is a plea for divine pardon, and one of the moving examples of this is the heart-rending "Pieta, Signore," which was sung at Caruso's funeral. The text asks God to be merciful and take pity on the supplicant. For a while this noble aria was attributed to Rossini, but it is now believed to be the work of Swiss composer Louis Niedermeyer. What is an unquestioned work of Rossini is the animated "Domine Deus" from his "Petite Messe Solennelle," one of the few major works he created after giving up writing for the operatic stage. And to fashion the lovely "Mille cherubini in coro," made famous by tenor Beniamino Gigli, Austrian composer Alois Melichar took a charming melody from Schubert's incidental music for the drama "Rosamunde."
It would be difficult to imagine a collection of sacred vocal works without two of the most beloved of Christmas carols -- "Silent Night" and "Adeste fideles." The first was written almost two hundred years ago for a midnight Christmas service in a small church in Austria. Composed by the church's organist, Franz Gruber, it was first performed by a small group of choirboys to the accompaniment of a guitar, as the church's organ was broken. "Silent Night" is Christmas as seen through the eyes of a child. Both it and "Adeste fideles," which is based on an old Portuguese hymn, have come to symbolize the joy, wonder, and mystery of the Nativity.
Andrea Bocelli has frequently remarked that he feels singing is his destiny, that he is meant to use his voice to reach out and touch others, and that he is grateful to have been given this gift and this opportunity. His gratitude in turn is shared by everyone who responds to his fervent art and his dedication to the highest ideals of singing.
Top banner photos: Andrea Bocelli, and the tenor with the young singers of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia chorus.
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Bocelli completed a law degree at the University of Pisa before deciding to pursue a career in music. |
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The choir of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. |
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This program is available on VHS. |
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