Sunday, December 4th, 1994
Cordier Auditorium
Robert Jones, Conductor
Messiah | George Frideric Handel | |||
Manchester College Choral Society Bradley Creswell, conductor Carol Streator, soprano Mary Creswell, mezzo-soprano Bradley Creswell, tenor Ross Bernhardt, baritone PART ONE |
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Sinfony |
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Intermission | ||||
PART TWO | ||||
Behold the Lamb of God - Chorus |
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PART THREE | ||||
I know that my Redeemer liveth - soprano
aria |
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Program Notes by James R. C. Adams |
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Messiah |
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) |
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George (or Georg) Frideric Handel (or Händel), that German-born British subject who wrote Italian music, was a bundle of contradictions. The varied spelling of his name reflects the mobility of artists and composers common to that period. Names were often spelled according to the practice of the country of residence. He spelled his name "Handel" on his petition for citizenship. Handel had a complex personality. On the one hand, he was pious and sentimental to the point of crying over his own music when it dealt with the sufferings of the Lord. On the other hand, he had an uncontrollable temper that prompted associates to play practical jokes on him, sometimes resulting in violence. (A prankster once untuned all the instruments just before a concert for the Prince of Wales and Handel was so enraged that he picked up a kettledrum and threw it at the concertmaster. He was persuaded to continue the concert only after the Prince made a personal plea.) Perhaps his personality was shaped by his difficulty in pursuing his musical interest. His father insisted that he become a lawyer, and banned all musical instruments from the house. He further forbade young George to visit any other house containing a musical instrument. George managed to smuggle a clavichord (a very quiet keyboard instrument) into an upstairs room without his father's knowledge. Handel was an almost exact contemporary of J.S. Bach, born in the same year and dying nine years later. They had similar backgrounds, came from the same part of Germany, were both devout Protestants, but were temperamentally quite different. While Bach remained steadfastly middle class and spent his meager earnings on raising a large family, Handel was a cosmopolitan who traveled widely, made and lost fortunes, and mingled with the aristocracy and the intellectual elite. He was overwhelmed by Italy, where he spent much time. His Italianate operas were very successful, and brought him great fame in England soon after he arrived there. In the span of less than forty years, he wrote forty-six operas, all in Italian style. When the public's interest in Italian opera began to wane, Handel began to work more in the oratorio form. His "second career" made him even more famous, and today he is known mostly for his oratorios, of which his Messiah is the most performed. He wrote the Messiah in 1741 while in a fit of despair over the failure of two of his operas. He confined himself to his room where he wrote, almost in a frenzy, for little over three weeks to produce his most enduring work, which was an instant success. Musicologist Dr. Hugo Leichentritt says: "Messiah is one of those mysterious marvels of great art that appear but once in a century, one of those outstanding products of genius which appeals to all lovers of music, to modest amateurs, and even to illiterate persons, as well as to severe critics of art, musicians of all styles, all epochs, and to all nations alike, irrespective of all the differences of artistic creed which in other respects may separate them." Although we do not hear the work in its entirety, there are not many cuts and those are from parts II and III. |
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Manchester Symphony Orchestra Personnel |
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Violin Linda U. Kanzawa, Concertmaster Rosemary Manifold * Matt Baker +^ Stephanie Beery +^ Matthew N. Hendryx Rod Morrison Sandra Neel Viola Naida MacDermid * Cello Jim Eaton * Polly Hoover +^ C.D. Stevens +^ Bass Randy Gratz * |
Oboe Rita Kimberley * George Donner Bassoon Erich Zummack * Donna Russell Trumpet Steven Hammer * Scott D. Steenburg +^ Timpani Mark Sternberg + Harpsichord Robin Gratz * Denotes principal + Denotes MC student ^ Denotes MSS Scholarship recipient |
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Manchester Choral Society |
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Bradley Creswell, conductor | ||||
Soprano Christine Beery Sara Beery Lani Christiansen Jenni Double Jessica Eller Kari Garber Rachael George Cari Gilbert Larisa Hoke Megan Joseph Debra Kibbe Tricia Markley Wanda Miller Jennifer Moore Taryn Nicodemus Christy Petroff Michele Shrider Bethany Thurner Jane Wilmert Kathleen Wolf Tenor Troy Brown William DeWitt Onita Johnson Ben Kambs Howard C. McKee Aaron Richardson Rehearsal Accompanist Jane Willmert |
Alto Carmen Beery Kelly Boggs Carolyn Bollinger Jennifer Bowman Julie Brown Joyce Clark Carla Croy Bethany DeKay Melissa Donaldson Karen Eberly Daren Hand Michele Hartogh Karin Heckman Edith Hoffer Kathy Kamphoefner Beth Lewis Lisa Mathias Staci Miller Wendy Noffsinger Leanne Strader Katherine Tinsley Lisa Wenger Bass Eric Barkey Kevin Bryant Dwight Farringer Chris Fitze Tim Frank Gabe Garrison Francis Hoffer Mark Sternberg |
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![]() Mrs. Streator is teaching part time at Grace College, Winona Lake, and maintains a private studio for voice. Sundays find her directing Ecclesia Choir and Youth Choir at the Manchester Church of the Brethren, and she recently founded a small mixed choral group. She has served many years as a district and state contest judge and is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and American Choral Directors Association. Carol is the wife of Dr. James T. Streator of Manchester College and they have two sons, Eric and Randy. ![]() Operatic roles performed by Mrs. Creswell include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward's The Crucible. Her oratorio repertoire includes the Verdi Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Magnificat by Bach, Elijah by Mendelssohn, and Vivaldi's Gloria. Mrs. Creswell received a masters degree from the University of Michigan where she was a recipient of the Elisabeth Schwartzkopf-Walter Legge scholarship in voice performance. ![]() He has served on the music faculties at Illinois Wesleyan University, Albion College, and Muskegon Community College. Opera and musical theater roles that he has performed include Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte, Kaspar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Duke/Padre in Man of La Mancha, and the male lead in Side by Side by Sondheim. He has also performed leading roles with the Lyric Opera of Northern Michigan, springfield Opera, the Kalamazoo Symphony, the West Shore Symphony, Indiana Opera North, the Red Barn Theater of Saugatuck, the University of Michigan Opera Theater, and the Wester Michigan University Opera Theater. Mr. Creswell also serves as music director and conductor for the music theater program at the Interlochen Arts Camp. He holds degrees in vocal performance from Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan. ![]() During the summer months, Mr. Bernhardt is assistant conductor and bass section leader for the Desert Chorale, a professional choral ensemble based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He previously served as director of music activities at Columbia College in Missouri; under his direction, the Jane Froman Singers performed by invitation for the Missouri Music Educations Association and the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). |