Lunch Concert: Valentine's Love Songs February 13, 2006

An ?Old Fashioned Love Songs? concert will be presented by the Carleton College Chamber Singers and Pro Musica Singersc under the direction of Lawrence Burnett, on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at noon in Severance Great Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

The Carleton Chamber Singers is a small, select group of students that explores choral music from all periods and styles. They will be performing ?The Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes? by Johannes Brahms.
Pro Musica is a trio that focuses on music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Early Baroque periods. They will present ?The Fantastic Spirits? by Thomas Weelkes. Billed as a ?Brown-Bag Lunch Recital,? the concert will last less than an hour and the audience is encouraged to celebrate Valentine?s Day by bringing along a lunch and a companion.

Johannes Brahms (1853-1897) was a Romantic composer known for his complex works, but in the late-1800s?with in-home performances by chamber groups becoming more popular?he wrote many delicate, intimate pieces for this purpose. ?The Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes,? a collection of 15 short choral waltzes based on German folk tunes, is known as one of Brahms?s greatest love song cycles.

English composer Thomas Weelkes (c. 1572-1623) primarily wrote vocal works for small groups, and was revered for his brilliant madrigals. ?The Fantasic Spirits? are among his later works, and represent Weelkes at his quirkiest and most humorous as he celebrates rustic married life.

Lawrence Burnett is a professor of music and choral director at Carleton College. In addition to directing the Chamber Singers and Pro Musica ensembles, he directs the women?s chorus, Bella Cantemus, and the Carleton Men?s Chorus, which often perform together as the Carleton Choir. Recently he formed a gospel group called the Jubilee Singers, patterned after the famed Fisk Jubilee Singers. Burnett also directs a Northfield community choir.

The Carleton Music Department is sponsoring the event. For more information and disability accommodations, call the Carleton music department at (507) 646-4347.