Education & Outreach
Resources for Teachers
The Best of CharlotteNovember 6, 2005, 3:00 pmUniversity City United MethodistChurch
Teachers- Inspire your students to sing! Bring them to hear Charlotte’s wonderful Children’s Choir perform with the Charlotte Civic Orchestra.
Special group prices
Call 704-344-0098
The Charlotte Civic Orchestra is pleased to present once again the excellent Greater Charlotte Children’s Choir at our November 6 concert, “The Best of Charlotte.” Among several selections the choir will perform will be Leonard Bernstein’s “Gloria Tibi” from Mass.Mass, composed in 1971, was truly a product of its time. The year 1971 was a tumultuous year. The air war in Vietnamhad escalated and ground combat spread to Laos and Cambodia. India and Pakistan went to war, 42 people were killed in a five-day riot at the Attica prison in New York, and violence in Northern Ireland worsened. The passing of artists and cultural figures as diverse as Igor Stravinsky and Louis Armstrong seemed to signify the end of an era.
The instrumental forces of Mass include rock and blues bands, adult and children's choirs, and a large group of singer/dancer "street people." The lead role is the Celebrant, the priest officiating in a traditional liturgical Latin mass, with extensive additional texts by the composer and Stephen Schwartz, who’s Godspell was clearly influential to the work, as were other shows of the time, such as Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. The work was commissioned during this era by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who asked Leonard Bernstein to write a work in memory of John F. Kennedy for the opening of the KennedyCenter in WashingtonD.C.He delivered Mass, "a theater piece for singers, players, and dancers," just barely in time, finishing some of the numbers only days before the preview performances. Gordon Davidson directed the new piece, Alvin Ailey choreographed it, and Maurice Peress was the conductor.
Mass, with text by Bernstein and Stephen Schwartz, is truly an eclectic theater piece, incorporating classical, Broadway and rock musical strains, as well as dance and spoken dialogue. The bongo-driven "Gloria tibi," is a vivacious call-and-response anthem in 5/8 meter for the Celebrant and the children's choir. Scored for two-part chorus of treble voices with tenor solo, the text of “Gloria Tibi” comes from the Liturgy of the Roman Mass:
"Gloria tibi, Gloria Patri, Gloria Filio, Et Spiritui Sancto, Laudamus te, Adoramus te, Glorif icamus te, Benedicimus te. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Gloria!"
Translation: “Glory to Thee, Glory to the Father, Glory to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, We praise Thee, we adore Thee, we glorify Thee, we bless Thee. Glory to the Father and the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Glory!”
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Charlotte Civic Orchestra
Education & Outreach – Resources for Teachers
Season 2005-2006
Concert #2 – November 6, 2005