Concert Preview: Dialogues of the Soul
The words “Bach cantata” call up images of solemn splendor, echoes of caroling trumpets and choruses. But some of the hundreds of works by Bach so-classed were composed for intimate worship, more meditative than public. None are more so than the ones composed on texts by the Lutheran religious poet George Christian Lehms, who portrayed in his verses conversations between the human soul and Jesus Christ as councilor. For their First Tuesday recital, soprano Rebekah Gilmore and bass Thomas Thompson have chosen two such works: “Blessed is He” and “Dearest Jesus, My Longing.” Composed in different years for church holidays bracketing the traditional 12 days of Christmas, they were probably designed to accompany afternoon services. In contrast to the intense meditative atmosphere of these works, Gilmore and Thompson will also perform a more purely joyful duet composed a hundred years before them: Heinrich Schütz’s “Eat thy bread joyfully, drink thy wine in good cheer.” The accompanying ensemble (violinists Cecilia Archuleta, Brandon Vance, viola Stephen Creswell, cello Wade Davis, and Les Martin on organ) will be joined by Sand Dalton in the oboe obbligatos of the Bach works.
EMG and Trinity Parish Church present:
First Tuesdays: Rebekah Gilmore & Thomas Thompson
7:30PM, October 5, 2010 at Trinity Parish Church, 609 8th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
Tickets: $25 General, $20 Senior (65+), $10 Student: available online or at the door.
