Hail, Gladdening Light
Magnificent Works for Double Choir
ProArteOHIO (Lancaster Chorale)
Time & Place
Date: Sun, Oct 26, 2025
Time: 4:00 PM & 5:30 Post-Concert Reception
St. Mary Catholic Church | 684 S Third St, Columbus, OH 43206
About the Concert
Hail, Gladdening Light | Magnificent Works for Double Choir
Music for double choir broadens the texture and expressive palate of composition and possesses a certain majesty that lovers of the choral art form find irresistible. Such works have been written for 500 years, filling the ears and imaginations of audiences with both celebrative and meditative sounds. The two choirs in this literature create a musical dialogue in which a conversation of choral restatements, contrasts, or even simple echoes provide a satisfying game of aural ping pong.
We begin the performance in the 16th century and with the towering figure of the time. Celebrating Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s 500th birth anniversary in 2025, ProArte sings his exciting double choir motet for Christmas Day. The Mass for Double Choir by Frank Martin (pronounced in French,“mar-TEH”) is considered one of the a cappella choral monuments of the 20th century. Rarely performed live, its harmonic beauty, metrical complexity, and spiritual depth breathe elegant life into these texts that we know so well. The two a cappella anthems of the English Church are stunning favorites of every cathedral choir in Britain and the United States. Faire is the Heaven, by William Henry Harris, takes the listener on a musical journey through the heavenly realms. While the entire anthem is splendid, the harmonies on the last page never cease to make us melt.
After the intermission ProArte performs three of maestro Caracciolo’s Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Week. The ensemble will explore performing these meditative works with one choir da lontano (standing at a distance). In so doing, the distant voice of the suffering Jesus takes on an evocative and unforgettable character. We return to the 16th century with Orlando di Lasso’s merriments. These two “madrigals” were meant as giddy entertainments in the household. Nonetheless, ProArte sings them in concert as a fun “palate cleanser” on the program! Robert Schumann’s works are also settings of secular poetry and supply the warm, colorful harmonies we associate with German Romanticism. The last page of Talismane has harmonies that sound as though they were written for a barbershop chorus!
The final set takes us all the way to the majestic sounds of double choir and organ. The Hubert Parry I Was Glad is a choral audience favorite and has been sung at every coronation of an English monarch since its premiere in 1902.
Program
Hodie Christus natus est – G. P. da Palestrina
Mass for Double Choir – Frank Martin
Kyrie
Gloria
Sanctus
Two a cappella Anthems of the English Church
Faire is the Heaven – William Henry Harris
Hail, Gladdening Light – Charles Wood
INTERMISSION
Tenebrae Responsories (2021) – Stephen Caracciolo
Tristis est anima mea (Sorrowful is my soul)
Eram quasi agnus innocens (I was like an innocent lamb)
Ecce vidimus eum (Behold, we see him)
The Ridiculous
O la, o che buon eccho (Ah, what a fine echo) – Orlando di Lasso
Tutto lo dì mi dici, canta, canta! (All day you tell me, “Sing, sing!”)
The Sublime
Zuversicht (Confidence) – Robert Schumann
Talismane (Talismans)
Magnificent English Anthems with Organ
Jubilate Deo – William Walton
I Was Glad – Hubert H. Parry
Please note that there will be a reception immediately following the concert in Heritage Hall. Join us for refreshments and the opportunity to meet the artists.