Pilgrimage March 17, 2013

Pilgrimage, Bay Choral Guild's March concert is a glorious musical odyssey through time and space, from Ukraine to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The first half of the concert features exquisite motets for both double and single chorus, including Motet II, Der Geist Hilft, by J. S. Bach, Osterhymne, by Josef Rheinberger and Schaffe in mir by Johannes Brahms, as well as motets by Tomas Luis de Victoria and Dmitry Bortniansky.

The second half is devoted to contemporary composer Gabriel Jackson's To the Field of Stars. Commissioned in 2011 by the Melbourne Symphony, the work celebrates the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Spanish Renaissance composer Tomas Luis de Victoria and celebrates the Camino de Santiago, the well-traveled pilgrimage route across Spain from the Pyrenees to the city of Santiago de Compostela.

Accompanied by cello and percussion, the 30-minute work incorporates an eclectic array of texts, including portions of the Codex Calixtinus, the antiphon from the Feast of St. James, a speech by President John Adams, and poems by William Cowper, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson. Accompanied by cello and percussion this powerful statement evokes images and emotions of the pilgrimage experience, both modern and back through time. It's quite a journey!

Official Website: http://www.baychoralguild.org