French Revolutions

Mid-Winter Concert

March 10, 2012
7:30 p.m.
University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, MN

During the stark season of Lent, you’ll enter a vibrant vineyard of music by fascinating French composers as we explore the power of faith, denial, sacrifice, and the promise of deliverance. You’ll hear Villette’s Hymn to the Virgin with jazz influences and magnificent music by Durufle and Hindemith. We encounter the divine in bread and wine in O Sacrum Convivium by Messiaen, while Cantique de Jean Racine by Faure invokes visions of fiery revelation. Inspired by the death of a friend, Quatre motets pour un temps de penitence marks Poulenc’s return to Catholicism in dramatic scenes portraying the betrayal of Christ and his sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane. Nearly blind, Vierne wrote his Messe Solennelle with pipe organ using all 12 notes of the chromatic scale, shocking at the time. You’ll enjoy a new work by Composer in Residence, Stanford Scriven. Written for Magnum Chorum, Scriven’s Ce Soir, Mon Coeur, offers a luxurious setting of poetry by Rilke. Join us for a deeply satisfying moment for reflection and renewal.

Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas

Located on the University of St. Thomas campus. Coming from Minneapolis on I-94E, take the Cretin Avenue exit and turn right (south) on Cretin.Go toMarshall Avenue and turn left (east). Proceed two blocks to Cleveland Avenue and turn right (south). The Chapel is on the right side after Selby Avenue. Residential parking is available.