Pro Arte Chorale Fall 2020
Each Monday session will begin with a thirty minute seminar detailing various musical topics followed by a vocal warm-up and a rehearsal of various choral pieces.
Throughout the Fall term, the chorale will engage in various recording projects that will be produced into virtual choir recordings.
Our 2020-2021 Season will be fluid and will develop as news of a COVID vaccine and re-openings occur. During the period of September-December 2020, the chorale will be virtual.
Following successful vaccinations and the guidance of the CDC, the chorale will enter an in-person phase with a projected in-person concert date of Saturday, June 26, 7pm at West Side Presbyterian Church.
Pro Arte’s Fall course will offer participants new opportunities
1. Expand your knowledge of the choral art: Learn about fascinating composers, the world they lived in and the music they created.
2. Understand music from stylistic, interpretive and historical perspectives
3. Engage in the choral art through study, listening, and virtual recordings
4. Identify, sing, and learn choral music selections in varied styles throughout history, from the medieval period through the 21st century
5. Analyze and execute vocal parts accurately, evaluated through voice recordings and feedback.
6. Record virtual choral recordings of varied repertoire
Monday’s September-December Virtual Schedule
7:30pm-8:00pm Seminar
8:00pm-8:10pm Warm up
8:20pm-9:00pm Rehearsal
Fall Syllabus
September 14
Medieval Chant
Hildegard von Bingnen & Guillaume de Machaut
Neumatic notation, monophony and the development of polyphony
Learn a medieval chant
Introduce music for the Fall season’s virtual recordings:
Music of Josquin des Prez, J.S. Bach, Johannes Brahms, Morten Lauridsen
September 21
Renaissance Part I: Motet & Madrigal
Guillaume Dufay, Jean Ockeghem, Josquin Desprez
The beginning of musical individualism & the art of imitation
September 28
Renaissance Part II: Motet & Madrigal
Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Tomas Victoria, Giovanni di Palestrina
Musical mysticism, the glory of high renaissance polyphony
October 5
Renaissance Part III: Motet & Madrigal
Marenzio, Monteverdi, Gesualdo
The development of music as an expressive art form
October 12
The emerging Baroque
Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Schutz
Affections in music, chromaticism, stile concertato
October 19
J.S. Bach & Handel
Introduction to Cantatas and Oratorios
October 26
Mozart & Haydn
The theater of the Classical Mass
November 2
Revolutionary Beethoven
The groundbreaking Beethoven, a revolutionary
Missa Solemnis and the Choral Symphony
November 9
Romantic Composers
Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, Puccini
Brahms requiem
Opera Choruses
November 16
Bruckner, Mahler, Strauss
Bruckner Motets
Mahler Symphony No. 2
Reaching the breaking point: Richard Strauss
November 23
20th Century Revolutionaries
Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenberg
Debussy Madrigals
Symphony of Psalms
Friede auf Erden
November 30-Contemporaries
The Ancient & Modern:
Music of Pärt, Rautavaara, Ešenwalds
December 7
21st Century Contemporaries
Lauridsen, Whitacre, Gjeilo, Macmillan
Modern mysticism
Holiday Sing-a-long
The format for the 2021 Spring portion of the Season, January to June, will be announced by early January.
