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<
From:  "M.J. Ruhl" <mjruhl@s...>
Date:  Mon Oct 8, 2001  3:22 am
Subject:  WASH.DC: Palestrina Choir Concert


PALESTRINA CHOIR

Directed by

Michael Harrison



Missa pro Defunctis
Jacobus de Kerle
c. 1532 - 1597

Jacobus de Kerle was an important contemporary of Palestrina.
This is one of the sixteenth century's most complete settings of the
Requiem Mass. The inclusion of the sequence, "Dies irae" (set to
alternating verses of polyphony and chant) is unusual for its time. De
Kerle also adds polyphony and chant) is unusual for its time. De Kerle
also adds the responsory for the absolution, "Libera me, Domine", which
follows the closing of the Mass. As in all Renaissance requiems, the nine
movements of de Kerle's composition are based upon the corresponding
melodies from the plainsong Mass for the Dead.


The Palestrina Choir is a 14-voice a capella choir, formed by
Michael Harrison in 1986 to present rarely-heard masterpieces of 16th
Century liturgical music. A recent Washington Post review called the
Palestrina Choir "one of the finest and most specialized choruses in the
choral wonderland of metropolitan Washington," and said the choir focuses
its attention on the polyphonic liturgical music of the Renaissance, and
it presents this music with a polish, a balanced and blended tone, an oral
clarity, and a sense of style that leave nothing to be desired."

Sunday, October 14, 2001
5:00 pm


The Church of the Annunciation
3810 Mass. Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.

No admission charge, free-will offering

For further information, please call 703-519-1961




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