The Calgary Lutheran Chorale
We are a choral group dedicated to the singing of music of the
Reformation and early church music, and even the occasional modern
choral work. Our members are drawn from a variety of backgrounds,
and a variety of denominations and faiths,
but are linked by their love for sacred music. We welcome
like-minded singers (amateur or professional) interested in participating.
The group is collegial and friendly. No one will huff and puff if you miss
a note. Some of us are well-trained, others far from it!
And sometimes the snacks are not bad either!
To meet expenses for music, singing workshops, and other expenses, a volunteer
donation of ~$25/year is provided per person. Under no circumstances, however,
is such a fee a requirement for membership. We are happy to waive the fee
for anyone uncomfortable with it.
Our liturgical advisor is the Rev. Glen Johnson of Ascension Lutheran Church, Calgary.
We meet for rehearsal on alternate Sundays at 7:15 p.m. (unless otherwise indicated)
Rehearsals usually last no longer than 1h30m. We are usually on the way home by 9:00 p.m.
at Hope Lutheran Church (3527 Boulton Rd., NW)
Note that it is NOT necessary to be Lutheran to be a member!
It is not even necessary to be a singer (we are also interested in instrumentalists).
So join us (or at least come to one of our rehearsals and check us out)!
Here is the schedule for part of the 2011-12 season:
Sept. 11 ........ Organizational meeting***
Sept. 25 .............. Rehearsal
Oct. 02 .............. Rehearsal
Oct. 16 .............. Rehearsal
Nov. 06 .............. Rehearsal
Nov. 20 .............. Rehearsal
Nov. 27 .............. Chorale Sing (informal)
Jan. 08 .............. Rehearsal
Jan. 15 .............. Rehearsal
Jan. 22 .............. Rehearsal
Jan. 29 .............. Rehearsal
Feb. 05 .............. Rehearsal
Feb. 12 .............. Rehearsal
Feb. 12 .............. Rehearsal
N.B.: No rehearsal on Feb. 19.
Feb. 26 ............... Presentation, Hope Lutheran Church***, 3 p.m.
The work we will present is:
"The Christmas Magnificat" from the Geistliche Concerte 13, Part 3
by Samuel Scheidt (1587 - 1657), ed. by Mahraun.
We are also studying "Four Psalm Motets" by Carl Schalk. This will be presented at a later date.
Here was the invitation to the St. Matthew Passion presentation last year:
Passion invite ,
This was the invitation to last year's Advent service:
and here we are just after the service:
Jennifer researched these pieces, and wrote:
"This is the website I like: http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/index.php?sm=home.score&?scoreid=13125
"You may have to download "Scorch" to view the score (click on the logo on the left that says "get Scorch")
but I did so two years ago and it was free and didn't crash or infect my machine with anything so it seems
to be an okay thing to have on your computer.
So once you've done that you should be seeing the Passion, in parts in English. Click on the play triangle and
a blue bar moves along the score. The recitative parts don't make any sound on mine as the bar passes through them,
so to skip them I put the mouse pointer on the start of the next choral part, double click, and the blue bar skips
down to there and starts playing the parts again. You can pause, stop, etc, using the little toolbar) Oh cool -
I hadn't seen this before - you can also adjust the tempo with that little sliding bar!"
"This next one is too fast to be useful, I think, but if you have only limited time to practice and want to get
through the whole piece in about 45 seconds, composers are listed alphabetically so just scroll down to Schutz,
click on his Passion According to Saint Matthew, and go for it: http://www.gasilvis.net " '
"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" (Vulpius) [for Advent, 2009]
"Thou Shalt Know Him" (Sirett) [for Advent].
For the Easter Vigil on April 3, 2010:
"Easter Anthem" (William Billings).
For a Celebration of the Psalms on April 11, 2010:
"Cantate Domino" (Hassler);
"Laudate Dominum" (Mozart);
Psalm 121 (Kodaly);
Salmo 150 (Aguiar);
Sheep May Safely Graze (Bach);
+ other short pieces based on Psalm 46.
For the Ascension Vespers service:
Three hymns from the green hymnal:
#156 ("Look the Sight is Glorious"),
#157 ("A Hymn of Glory Let us Sing" vs. 1-4,7), and
#171 ("Rejoice, the Lord is King").
Our anthems were:
"O Rex Gloria" (Marenzio)
Marenzio Link;
"Amen, Lob und Ehre und Weisheit..." (Telemann).
Again, from Jennifer: For a midi sound version, click on the ".mid" file.
For the printed music *in the key we are doing it in!* click on "0001_d.pdf"
(the first file after the Parent Directory)
Telemann Link
Jennifer provided a translation of the Marenzio work:
O Rex gloriae
O King of glory,
Domine virtutum,
Lord of all goodness,
qui triumphator hodie super omnes coelos ascendisti;
who ascended to heaven on this day triumphant over all,
ne derelinquas nos Orphanos,
do not leave us as orphans
sed mitte promissum Patris in nos,
but send us the Father’s promise,
spiritum veritatis.
the spirit of truth.
Alleluia.
Here is some of the music we performed or worked on in 2007-2009:
The Calgary Lutheran Chorale and the congregation sang the hymns written by
Paul Gerhardt (with music composed by several composers, including J. S. Bach) on Feb. 10, 2008.
Special thanks to Alex Jack who added a golden lustre with his trumpet,
and to Rev. Johnson who provided insightful reflections on the life and work of Paul
Gerhardt. The event was open to people of all denominations.
Details of the life and work of the Rev. Paul Gerhardt (b. 1607) can be found at:
Brief Bio,
and in this video on youtube:
Gerhardt video
Finally, the texts of some of his better known hymns can be found at:
text
We are sad to have to report the passing of our former director, James Beer, in early
February 2008. He inspired us during a time of transition,
and we will miss him greatly.
Our prayers are with Faye and Willy and all who knew and loved Jim.
At our rehearsal on Feb. 24, Bob offered the following prayer:
"God, we thank you for your servant, James Beer, whose labors are ended.
We are grateful for his years of service at Hope Lutheran Church and for his
all too short time with the Lutheran Chorale. Send us willing and able singers
and directors, composers and instrumentalists to sing your praises, to
glorify your name, and to help your people worship you aright. Be with
Jim's wife, Faye. Comfort her and the Beer family. We ask in Jesus' name.
Amen."
Our thoughts and prayers right now are with Sonya, Gisa, and John. Hang in there, kids!
We need you all!
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If a rehearsal needs to be canceled for reasons of weather, we will meet on the following Sunday. Although there may be changes to the schedule (about which we will do our best to keep you up to date), there will be no automatic shifting of the dates of the schedule if a make-up rehearsal is required, so we may have rehearsals two Sundays in a row
Our President up to the 2008-2009 season was Prof. Dr. Robert Schmiel, who has moved to points south. We miss him, but wish him and Helen the very best as they rejoined family and old friends.
Contact the webmeister (info below) if you would like to join us, or just spend a couple
of hours at a rehearsal to see if you like the music we sing and play.
For Lutheran music background:
Lutheran Musical Heritage site
[N.B., Sorry this link has changed; we will try to fix this soon].
For Eastern church music:
Eastern Orthodox Liturgical Music
and for liturgical music sources, see
Internet Theology Resources: Liturgical Studies and Liturgical Music
Email: milone at ucalgary.ca
(direct email to Milone)
Snail mail:
Physics & Astronomy Dept.,
The University of Calgary,
2500 University Dr., N.W.
Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4
Canada