PORTLAND – Prepare yourself for a Christmas treat when you hear “Prepare the Way,” a concert performed by The St. Mary Schola Early Music Ensemble at UMF 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14 in Nordica Auditorium, Merrill Hall, 224 Main Street on the UMF campus.
Celebrate the season with a musical feast worthy of the “Sun King” Louis XIV when you listen to the tunes he heard at the royal chapel Sainte Chappelle and Versailles Palace in Paris.
Time-travel to England, France, and Germany as you enjoy French Christmas carols of the 17th century, English Advent music from the Renaissance, and German Baroque music composed for the Emperor in Dresden.
Director Bruce Fithian, who teaches music at the University of Southern Maine, offers a program to inspire and delight Christmas revelers of every musical persuasion. Director Fithian is also the choirmaster and organist for St. Mary the Virgin Episcopal Church in Falmouth.
Of special interest are the period instruments played at a half-pitch lower than modern-day instruments. The performance also includes a cantata sung by a trio of counter-tenor Michael Albert, tenor Martin Lescault, and bass John Adams.
The program includes Messe de minuit (based on French carols) by Marc-Antoine Charpentier; mystical selections by Thomas Tallis of the English Renaissance; motets by Heinrich Schutz; a chorale concerto by Buxtehude, who composed before Bach; lively motets by Michael Praetorius, and narrative readings about the Yuletide season.
The St Mary Schola is a professional Early Music ensemble of 20 singers and instrumentalists who seek to foster appreciation of music composed before the eighteenth century. A non-profit organization since 2008, St. Mary Schola performs three concerts throughout the year in March, May and December.
Tickets for the Christmas concert are $15 per person and are available on-line at stmaryschola.org or at the door on the evening of the performance.
