One Penn State choir this weekend will use its flowing harmonies to reenact a love story based on the opera, Gloriana.
At 8 tonight in Esber Recital Hall's Music Building I, the Chamber Singers will be performing seven Renaissance and 20th century pieces. The concert will last about an hour and consists of beautiful melodies and calming music, director Chris Kiver said.
The longest piece, "Coral Dances," is a medley of six songs from the opera Gloriana written by Benjamin Britten. This romantic-themed opera was originally written to mark the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The rest of the performance is divided into two sets. The first shows the progression of early Renaissance music through composers Josquin Des Prez, Pierre de Manchicourt and Tomás Luis de Victoria. The second set consists of three songs by British composers Marco Pallis, William Byrd and Peter Philips.
"This music is difficult to perform because it needs to float and sound ethereal," Kiver said. "It is hard to achieve this; but this is a good choir and there are some very talented singers."
The harmonies of Renaissance music are typically difficult to grasp at first, Teal Ruland (sophomore-voice performance) said. The notation is not always modern, which makes it difficult for the singers to understand the rhythms, Ruland said.
"The pieces have texts that you have to bring out and that is sometimes difficult. A few of the pieces also have difficult notes and rhythms," Jordan Barrett (sophomore- voice performance) said.
A lot of hard work has gone into this performance Kiver said, and the singers have been rehearsing since the beginning of the semester.
"I am very excited about this performance," Ruland said. "We've been working really hard on the pieces. We actually did a workshop a few weeks ago with a group from Europe and it was very interesting to hear what they had to sing."
This will be the first of three concerts the Chamber Singers will perform. The choir will travel to Bucknell University and Lewistown in the upcoming weeks to showcase its talents, Kiver said.
"As a director I am very excited," Kiver said. "The amount of time spent rehearsing in combination with hours of hard work pays off when the singers get to perform in front of family, friends and the community."
Kiver said he does not have a favorite piece, but Ruland favors one in particular.
"I really enjoy 'Sing Joyfully' by William Byrd. There is a lot of energy and it flows very well," Ruland said. "It is interesting to sing because there are a lot of contrasting sections."
