Over the past six decades, the members of the Vancouver Cantata Singers—both past and present—have accomplished a great deal. This multiple award-winning choir continues to delight audiences in the Lower Mainland and beyond with its exceptional talent and enthusiasm for music of all kinds. The Government of Canada is pleased to salute the work of this organization, which has made outstanding contributions to the region's cultural vitality and to the world of choral singing. As minister of Canadian Heritage, I offer my best wishes to the Vancouver Cantata Singers on their 60th anniversary. I would also like to thank all the staff and people behind the scenes who have brought this special season to life. Happy anniversary! The Honourable Mélanie Joly BRITISH COLUMBIA A MESSAGE FROM PREMIER JOHN HORGAN As Premier of the Province of British Columbia, I am deeply honoured to extend congratulations to the Vancouver Cantata Singers (VCS) on this monumental 60th Anniversary. Since 1957, VCS has shared its choral excellence with British Columbians – and beyond. Through its efforts, VCS has delivered only the highest technical and artistic calibre of performance while always exploring and enriching the vast body of choral repertoire. VCS also employs local and professional musicians and contributes greatly to the community through educational outreach activities. I would like to acknowledge the VCS alumni, conductors, directors, collaborators, and support staff. Your exceptional skills, musical excellence, and leadership deserve a standing ovation. I would also like to commend the many outstanding volunteers who support VCS. Your dedication and service is truly valued and appreciated. On this diamond anniversary, please feel proud of your many accomplishments and contributions to the arts in British Columbia. We are truly grateful you call this province home. I wish each and every one of you continued success! HONOURABLE JOHN HORGAN PREMIER OF BRITISH COLUMBIA November, 2017 A Message from the Mayor On behalf of my colleagues on Vancouver City Council and the Citizens of Vancouver, I would like to extend our best wishes to the Vancouver Cantata Singers in celebration of their 60th Anniversary Season. The Vancouver Cantata Singers began as a non-auditioned community choir in 1958. Positive reviews from music critics and successful appearances on CBC Radio inspired the choir to become an auditioned semi-professional choir. The Vancouver Cantata Singers perform a wide range of repertoire including contemporary music. They work frequently with Canadian composers and also perform pieces composed by members of the choir. As Mayor, I am proud of our city’s reputation as a major centre for the performing arts. Congratulations to the Vancouver Cantata Singers on your 60th Anniversary Season. I wish you many more years of success. Yours truly, Gregor Robertson MAYOR The Vancouver Cantata Singers The VCS Board Paula Kremer, Artistic Director President: Sarah McNair Vice-President: Jesse Read Rachel Brown Richard Cooper Treasurer: Christina Cho Emily Cheung Sam Dabrusin Missy Clarkson Ray Horst Secretary: Jim Sanyshyn Sarah McGrath Bernard Lambrechts Directors: Boaz Av-Ron, Melody Yiu Wendy McMillan Daniel Marshall Benila Ninan Taka Shimojima Megan Brown, Trevor Mangion Hilary Piets Nick Sommer C.D. Saint Asha Pratt-Johnson Clinton Stoffberg Singers’ Rep: Sarah McGrath Kate Radford Troy Topnik Melanie Adams Peter Alexander The VCS Staff Maureen Bennington Andy Booth General Manager: Michelle Herrewynen Ann Chen Derrick Christian Front of House Manager: Genevieve MacKay Tiffany Chen Doug Colpitts Elspeth Finlay Chris Doughty Mavis Friesen Matthew Fisher Beth Helsley Gerald Harder Nina Horvath J. Evan Kreider Sarah McNair Larry Nickel www.vancouvercantatasingers.com Follow us on Born in Vancouver and educated at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia, Paula Kremer has studied choral conducting in courses and workshops at Eton, Westminster Choir College, the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan. She has also studied voice with Phyllis Mailing, Bruce Pullan and Laura Pudwell and holds an ARCT in both piano and voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music. A full-time faculty member of the School of Music at Vancouver Community College, teaching voice, solfege, and choir, she was also the director of two Vancouver Bach Choir ensembles for young adults from 2009-17, the Vancouver Bach Youth Choir and Sarabande Chamber Choir. Cantus Missae Rheinberger and the Romantics Saturday, February 24, 2018 7:30 Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, B.C. This concert is dedicated to the memory of Hugh McLean, founding director of the Vancouver Cantata Singers. Hymne, Drei geistliche Gesänge, Op. 69, No. 2 Josef Rheinberger Ave Maria Anton Bruckner Three Graduales Anton Bruckner I. Locus iste a Deo factus est II. Os justi meditabitur sapientiam III. Christus factus est pro nobis obediens Morgenlied, Drei geistliche Gesänge, Op. 69, No. 1 Josef Rheinberger Schaffe in mir, Gott, ein rein Herz, Op. 29, No. 2 Johannes Brahms Cantus Missae, Op. 109 Josef Rheinberger I. Kyrie II. Gloria III. Credo IV. Sanctus V. Agnus Dei Abendlied, Drei geistliche Gesänge, Op. 69, No. 3 Josef Rheinberger (sung with VCS alumni) Vancouver Cantata Singers acknowledges that today’s concert takes place on the unceded homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Cantus Missae Rheinberger and the Romantics Programme notes by J. Evan Kreider1 During the nineteenth century, Europe became increasingly nationalistic both politically and culturally. As composers throughout Europe strove to express their unique national identities in artistic ways, the endeavours emanating from Germany and Italy retained their earlier pre-eminence, even before either Germany or Italy existed as nations. German writers and painters had already begun to romanticize their Germanic past, to idealize nature untouched by humans, to react to the ills of industrialization, to criticize dated social orders, and to fear where science might be taking their civilization. In the midst of all this turmoil, the painter Caspar David Friedrich spoke for many when declaring that “the artist’s feeling is his law”. Since music is a more abstract art than painting or literature, composers joined the movement somewhat later. They soon realized that compositions having words (or being given pictorially suggestive titles) gave opportunity to express some of the ideals of romanticism. While Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, and Josef Rheinberger were classicists within German Romanticism, they were nevertheless profoundly influenced by it, embracing some of its tenets and reacting against others. Meanwhile, another tug-of-war was underway, almost as a subplot, between conservative and progressive German church musicians. In a sense, this had roots in the rediscovery of the music of Bach and Palestrina. Wilhelm Rust, organist at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche and eventual Cantor of the Thomanerchor, single-handedly compiled and edited the complete works of his predecessor, J.S. Bach (46 volumes printed in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Härtel, 1851-1899). As Germany’s most important church composer, Bach’s intellectual approach was suddenly affecting every serious composer in Germany and Austria. About 340 km to the south, Franz Xaver Haberl, a conservative German church organist in Regensburg, likewise collected and edited the complete works of Italy’s foremost church musician, the somewhat conservative Giovanni Palestrina (33 volumes printed in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Härtel, 1862-1894). Many composers and music aficionados subscribed to these massive editions, receiving one or more folios every month. This led to two discoveries: (1) the awesome counterpoint of Bach, whose fugues and canons appealed to the scientifically-minded nationalists, and (2) the beauty of Palestrina’s restrained unaccompanied Renaissance counterpoint with its clarity of text, which appealed to ecclesiastical conservatives. Combine these discoveries with the new harmonies and expressions of individualism of the German Romantics, and we can begin to appreciate the expanding palate of colour becoming available to those who composed sacred music. A similar and equally rigorous debate had already taken place in the 1500s, with the music of Felice Anerio and Giovanni Palestrina eventually resolving the issue to papal satisfaction. In the 1800s, Germans who wanted to return to the ‘Palestrina style’ joined the Cecilian movement, which started in earnest in 1865 (three years after Haberl began publishing works by Palestrina). The growing movement obtained the blessing of the conservative Pope Pius IX in 1870. Haberl became the movement’s champion as Cecilians called for Catholic church musicians to return to the ideals of the 16th-c. Council 1 Professor Emeritus of Musicology, UBC, Member of VCS of Trent. This debate directly affected each of the compositions heard this evening. Cecilians argued that all church music must be sung without accompaniment, in the style of the Vatican’s (and Palestrina’s) Sistine Chapel (hence the term a cappella). Church music must not be dramatic, motets and Masses should not call attention to themselves through fascinating harmonic shifts or dramatic gestures, and their sacred texts must be heard clearly and never be confusing for the worshippers, as was the case in Bach’s complicated fugues. Rheinberger composed his Mass in E-flat in 1878, completing it three weeks before Pius IX died. About