The Bach Elgar Choir is bringing a musical and cinematic trip to the stars to Hamilton, London, and Toronto. Titled Space Journey, the concert pairs choral masterworks with a film made of high resolution images of the cosmos.
The combination may seem a natural blend of stirring sounds and images, but it came together, as BEC Artistic Director Alexander Cann told The Hamilton Spectator, out of a fascination for slides taken on the Voyager spacecraft. They’d been left to him by his father, a physicist who’d worked with NASA.
It formed the core of an idea that BEC took to area filmmaker Mark Bochsler, who created a video, adding other high-res images from the Voyager probes, as well as the James Webb Space Telescope. The film will play as the choir sings.
The Music
The program includes atmospheric works, many of them written on the theme. Here are some of the highlights.
Charles Villiers Stanford published his Three Latin Motets, Op. 38, in 1905. It is believed he composed them some five to ten years earlier, as a teacher at Royal College of Music in London. The three movements consist of:
- Justorum animae (The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God) for four-part choir
- Coelos ascendit hodie (Today, Jesus Christ has ascended into the heavens, after a 14th century German Ascension hymn,] for two four-part choirs
- Beati quorum via (Blessed are those that are undefiled) for six-part choir (SSATBB)
Charles Wood’s “Hail, Gladdening Light,” with lyrics by John Keble, who actually translated the words from an early Christian hymn in Greek. The work for two choruses was first published in 1919.
Cree composer Andrew Balfour composed his “Anang” (A Star) with words in both Ojibway and English, commissioned by a Toronto choir. Prominent Winnipeg composer Andrew Balfour is the Artistic Director of Winnipeg’s Camerata Nova, a vocal group known for its genre blending repertoire, and collaborative and inter-disciplinary projects.
The lyrics to “I Am Voyager” incorporate the Latin greeting the space probe itself carried on the Golden Record, along with words by composer Robin Salkeld, whose day job is a computer scientist. He’s based in Vancouver where he sings in the Jubilate! Vocal ensemble who premiered the piece in 2019.
Toronto-based composer Jared Tomlinson’s piece “How Sweet the Moonlight Sleeps,” was commissioned by Pax Christi Chorale for its 2014–2015 season. The recipient of multiple awards and commissions, Tomlinson’s Mass of St. Mary Magdalene was the winning entry in Toronto’s Church of St. Mary Magdalene’s competition for their 125th anniversary.
The concert concludes with Louis Vierne’s majestic Messe solennelle, which will spotlight Canadian organist Stephen Boda. French composer Vierne’s Messe solennelle (Solemn Mass) in C-sharp minor, Op. 16, is a mass scored for choir and two organs. Composed in 1899, it was published in 1900, and first performed the following year in Paris.
Concert Details
The concert/screening hits three cities over three weeks.
- Friday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. at Melrose United Church (86 Homewood Ave) Hamilton
- Saturday, April 20, 7:30 p.m. at Metropolitan United Church (46 Wellington St.) London
- Saturday, May 11, 8 p.m. at Metropolitan United Church (56 Queen St. E.) Toronto
More information and tickets available [HERE].
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