Fall 2019 Concert
The Messiah by G.F. Handel
7 PM Friday, December 6, 2019 at South Church Hall, St Johnsbury VT
4 PM Saturday, December 7, 2019 at Congregational Church, Haverhill, NH
3 PM Sunday, December 8, 2019 at Congregational Church Peacham, VT
Vocal Soloists were Julie Drown, Jennifer Hastings, Katie Tandy, Maria Lamson, Katharine DeBoer, Janis Raye, Andrew Lidestri, Dakota Butterfield, Gary Moreau, Lucas Weiss.. Instrumentalists were Larry Blaine, Gerald Webster, Marcia Cassidy, Katharine DeBoer, Leslie Sonder, Anna Brown, Paul Horak, Joseph Hansalik, David Heinta, Will Haresch.
Spring 2019 Concert
Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein
Requiem by Gabriel Fauré.
7:30 pm on Friday 3 May at First Congregational Church, Littleton
7:30 pm on Saturday 4 May at Bradford (VT) Congregational Church
3 pm on Sunday 5 May at South Church, St Johnsbury
St. Johnsbury Academy's Hilltones and North Country Youth Chorus will sing with NCC and perform short pieces of their own. Chorus and soloists were accompanied by organ, piano, strings, harp, and percussion. Alan Rowe, Musical Director
Fall 2018 Concert
Lux Aeterna by Morten Lauridsen
7:30 pm on Saturday 1 December at First Congregational Church, Littleton
3 pm on Sunday 2 December at Peacham Congregational Church
Alan Rowe, Musical Director
Jennifer A. Zabelsky, soprano
Katharine DeBoer, soprano
Phil Brown, tenor Peter Beardsley, organ
Joseph Hansalik, piano
Respighi's text is based on the poetry of a Franciscan friar of the 13th century, Jacopone da Todi, who expresses the Franciscan compassion for the downtrodden. He emphasizes the poverty of the shepherds and Mary herself and recounts the story of Jesus' birth from the shepherds' point of view.
Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna has been performed widely around the world. He drew his text from ancient Latin liturgies including that of the Requiem Mass, but did not intend it for liturgical use. Composed in response to his mother's final illness, Lauridsen chose the theme of light "to give me strength to cope with this situation." Inspired by the sacred music of the late Renaissance, especially that of Josquin des Prez, he creates a meditation on light that is "quiet, direct and introspective."
Spring 2018 Concert
* Saturday 5 May, 7:30 pm, Bradford Congregational Church, Bradford, VT
* Sunday 6 May, 3 pm, South Church, St. Johnsbury, VT
In collaboration with St. Johnsbury Academy's Hilltones, NCC performed W.A. Mozart's Requiem. Fans of the award-winning film Amadeus recognize many of its themes in this work. Orchestral accompaniment included organ, strings and winds. The entire ensemble was under the direction of Alan Rowe.
Soloists:
Julie Drown, soprano
Fiona Sweeney, soprano
Katharine DeBoer, mezzo-soprano
Phil Brown, tenor
Lucas Weiss, bass
Organ: Peter Beardsley
The Hilltones also performed several pieces on their own.
In their debut public appearance, the recently formed North Country Youth Chorus offered three selections, led by Kaitlyn Bryant, at the Sunday performance
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Songs of Earth and Sky
Saturday 24 February at 3 pm at Court Street Arts at Alumni Hall in Haverhill
In this program of short works, the Chorus let its hair down, departing from its usual fine classical repertoire, and instead presented more popular classics. We celebrated the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein's birth with a medley from his Broadway classic West Side Story, and the 50th anniversary of Joni Mitchell's folk classic "Both Sides Now."
The program also included the traditional Appalachian song “Bright Morning Stars,” gospel classics “Unclouded Day” and “Take Me to the Water,” contemporary classics from John Rutter and Daniel Elder, and the jazz classic “Blue Skies.” NCC paid tribute to Martin Luther King with Bob Chilcott’s arrangement of “MLK” by the Irish rock band U2 .
NCC pianist Joseph Hansalik accompanied and performed two original piano solos. The singers were joined by Phil Brown on string bass and Kaci Cochran on percussion. Musical Director Alan Rowe lead the ensemble.
70th Annual Christmas Concert
7:30 pm on Friday, December 1, 2017 at the First Congregational Church, Littleton
7:30 pm on Saturday, December 2, 2017 at the Wells River Congregational Church
4:00 pm on Sunday, December 3, 2017 at the Peacham Congregational Church
The Chorus, soloists and orchestra were directed by Alan Rowe.
Soloists:
Julie Drown, soprano
Katharine DeBoer, alto
Phil Brown, tenor
Lucas Weiss, bass
“Christians, be joyful, and praise your salvation.” So begins J.S. Bach’s rousing first cantata in the Christmas Oratorio. The trumpets blared, the timpani boomed, and the 75 voices of the North Country Chorus announced the celebration of Christ’s birth.
“Break forth, O beauteous, heavenly light.” In addition to the exuberant choruses, audiences enjoyed reflective chorales, many familiar to the ear as popular hymn tunes, as well as arias and recitatives from the soloists.
Bach composed this work as six cantatas, each intended for a major feast day of the Christmas season. Part I, for Christmas Day, describes the Birth of Jesus; part II, the annunciation to the shepherds; part III, the adoration of the shepherds, part IV, the circumcision and naming of Jesus; part V, the journey of the Magi; and part VI, for Epiphany, the adoration of the Magi.
Spring 2017 Concert
Singers were accompanied by Peter Beardsley, organ, and Robert Wilson, piano.
Musical Director Alan Rowe led the performance.
Saturday 6 May at Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 7 May at United Community Church – South Building, St. Johnsbury, VT
Elijah depicts events in the life of the Biblical prophet taken from I Kings and II Kings of the Old Testament. Although composed in German, it premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival, England, in an English version conducted by the composer – and was an instant audience success. Mendelssohn loved the Baroque music of Bach and Handel and modelled his oratorio after them, while incorporating the lyricism and orchestral color of the Romantic era.
Christmas 2016
NCC was joined by The Caledonia Children's Chorus at Lyndon Institute, under the direction of Susanne Norwood.
Lucas Weiss, baritone
Joseph K. Hansalik, piano
Robert Wilson, organ
* Friday 2 December at First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
* Saturday 3 December at Wells River Congregational Church, VT
* Sunday 4 December at Peacham Congregational Church, VT
Spring 2016 Concert
* Friday 29 April, 7:30 pm, at First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
* Saturday 30 April, 7:30 pm, at Bradford Congregational Church, Bradford, VT
* Sunday 1 May, 2 pm, at North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, VT
Schubert wrote in nearly every musical genre during his short life (1797-1828). He and his contemporary Beethoven formed the transition between the Classical and Romantic periods. Schubert composed his Mass in G during one week in March 1815 at the age of 18. It consists of six movements and uses the traditional text of the Roman Catholic Mass. Featured soloists in this piece were soprano Julie Drown, tenor Andrew Lidestri, and baritone Talan Bryant.
Traditionally a Requiem is a prayer for rest for the deceased. Dan Forrest (b. 1978) describes his Requiem as "a narrative just as much for the living, and their own struggle with pain and sorrow, as for the dead." Forrest takes some liberties with the traditional Requiem text, replacing the Dies Irae with passages from Ecclesiastes and Job. Solos were performed by sopranos Julie Drown and Annabelle Hicks and tenor Andrew Lidestri. Listen to the composer to describe his creative process.
68th Annual Christmas Concert ~ 2015
Soloists included:
* Rachel Norton, soprano
* Julie Drown, soprano
* Phil Brown, tenor
* Kristen Marian, alto
* Annabelle Hicks, soprano
* Elizabeth King, soprano
* Robert Mead, tenor
Friday 4 December, 7:30 pm, at First Congregational Church, Littleton
Saturday 5 December, 7:30 pm, at Wells River Congregational Church
Sunday 6 December, 3 pm, at Peacham Congregational Church
Spring Concert 2015
Friday 1 May, 7:30 pm, at First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday 2 May, 7:30 pm, at Bradford Congregational Church, Bradford, VT
Sunday 3 May, 3 pm, at South Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, VT
NCC was joined by the St. Johnsbury Academy Hilltones and the St. Johnsbury School Chorus, who also sang several short works on their own.
Soloists:
Julie Drown, soprano
Phil Brown, tenor
Gary Moreau, baritone
Pianos: Vivian Spates and Mark Violette
Percussion: Rick Erwin, Ben Longo, Rory Donnelly, Kaci Cochran
Flutes: Jeffrey Fullerton, Libby Hillhouse
NCC Musical Director Alan Rowe led the entire ensemble.
Carl Orff is chiefly remembered for his far-reaching contribution to music education and for his dramatic cantata, Carmina Burana, written in 1936. Orff came from a musical family. He became fascinated with the power of primitive rhythms and simple melodies. With Carmina Burana he chose a deliberately simplified style, characterised by its rhythmic energy and repetition of short melodic phrases. Dismissed by the critics, the work immediately appealed to the public and has remained a favourite ever since.
The text of Carmina Burana is from a large collection of secular poems of the 12th and 13th centuries, preserved at the Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuren. They are mostly in Latin, though some are in old French or Middle High German, and come from a variety of sources. Apart from some poems that are morally uplifting, most are bawdy student songs celebrating such un-monklike earthly delights as drinking, gambling, dancing and lovemaking.
Orff described Carmina Burana as a 'scenic cantata'. It was originally designed for the stage, with dancing and mime accompanying the music. The work begins and ends with a powerful hymn to the goddess Fortuna, Empress of the World, seen as a monstrous wheel carrying its victims first to the heights, then dashing them to the ground. In between come three main sections. The first depicts Spring, Primo Vere, illustrated by rustic songs and dances. The second is set in a tavern, vividly described by a succession of characters including the swan on the spit, who laments his dreadful fate. Part III, The Court of Love, is an uninhibited celebration of the delights of love. The final number, Blanziflor and Helena, leads back to the opening hymn, unifying the whole work, and acting as a pertinent reminder that our lives are ever subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous Fortune.
Notes by John Bawden, Musical Director, Fareham Philharmonic Choir, UK
67th Annual Christmas Concert – 2014
Friday 5 December, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday 6 December, 7:30 pm at Wells River (VT) Congregational Church
Sunday 7 December, 2:30 pm at North Congregational Church, St Johnsbury, VT
Orchestra, chorus and soloists were directed by Alan Rowe.
The quartet of vocal soloists consisted of North Country favorites: soprano Julie Drown, alto Maria Weber Lamson, tenor Phil Brown, and bass Gary Moreau. Accompanying the group was a corps of string performers including Larry Blaine, Jan Sparks, Chris Nourse, Doug Kandall, and Nick Johnson. Additional accompaniment was provided by Bruce Stevens on harpsichord, David Heintz and Martin Gilmartin on trumpet, and Matt Nolan on timpani.
Messiah is Handel's best known oratorio. The German-born composer visited England in 1710 and, finding great success there, adopted it as his home. He composed Messiah in twenty-four days during the late summer of 1741 using passages selected from Old and New Testament Scriptures. Upon completing the famous "Hallelujah Chorus" he later recalled, "I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the Great God himself." Handel conducted Messiah's first performance in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742, as a benefit for three of the city's charities. Attended by Dublin's most fashionable patrons, it was an immediate and resounding success.
Summer 2014
A program of short works, both classical and popular, by Carole King, Brahms, Kodaly, Durufle, Morley, and Orlando di Lasso, and featuring a medley from Bernstein and Sondheim's "West Side Story"
Friday 18 July at Littleton Opera House (air-conditioned!)
Saturday 19 July at Wells River Congregational Church
Bob Mead, Guest Conductor
Jean Anderson, Pianist
North Country Chorus gratefully acknowledges Bishop's of Littleton and Slick's of Woodsville for their generosity in making this event a success.
Spring 2014
The program featured two works by W.A. Mozart: Vesperae Solennes de Confessore and Regina Coeli. The chorus also performed several short contemporary works, including the spiritual Hold On! (arr. Simpson) and Exultate Justi by Randol Alan Bass.
St. Johnsbury Academy's select choir, the Hilltones, joined NCC in several pieces and perform five selections of their own:
* Tango To Evora by Loreena McKennitt/arr. Washburn
* Nothin' Gonna Stumble My Feet by Greg Gilpin andJohn Parker
* A Boy and A Girl by Eric Whitacre; poem by Octavio Paz
* Requiem by Eliza Gilykson; arr. Hella Johnson
* Ka Hia Manu by Stephen Hatfield
The concert included orchestra accompaniment and a quartet of solo voices from the region. Soprano Julie Drown and baritone Bob Mead are longtime members of the chorus. Alto Susanne Norwood of East Burke and tenor Andrew Lidestri of Lyman rounded out the quartet.
The choruses, orchestra and soloists were under the direction of Alan Rowe.
Friday 2 May at 7:30 pm ~ South Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, VT
Saturday 3 May at 7:30 pm ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 4 May at 3 pm ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT
66th Annual Christmas Concert – 2013
Gloria by John Rutter
In Dulci Jubilo, arr. Pearsall
Christmas Cantata by Daniel Pinkham
O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen
and more ...
Traditional carol sing with audience
Alan Rowe, Musical Director
Friday 6 December ~ First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday7 December ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday8 December ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT
Summer 2013
NCC presented two concerts of American music to celebrate the 250th anniversaries of the sister towns of Newbury and Haverhill.
Saturday 3 August, 7:30 pm ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 4 August, 7:30 pm ~ Haverhill Congregational Church, Haverhill, NH The all-American program featured:
Frostiana, Randall Thompson's settings of Robert Frost poems
Amazing Grace, arr. George Shearing (piano solo)
The Way You Look Tonight
Bye, Bye Blues
Body and Soul (piano solo)
selections from South Pacific
Guest Conductor: Bob Mead
Pianist: Jean Anderson
Spring 2013
Toccata in F Major, BWV 540, byJohann Sebastian Bach
Requiem by John Rutter
Alan Rowe, Musical Director
Peter Beardsley, Guest Organist
Friday 3 May at 7:30 pm ~ First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH Saturday 4 May at 7:30 pm ~ United Church of Christ, Bradford, VT Sunday 5 May at 3 pm ~ Peacham (VT) Congregational Church Watch the video! Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904) was a prolific Czech composer, famous in the United States for his New World Symphony. In 1887 he composed Mass in D, structuring it around the traditional liturgical movements. This original version, performed by NCC for the first time, was intended as an intimate work for soloists, chorus, and organ.
British composer John Rutter (b. 1945), popular among American audiences, composed his Requiem in 1985 and dedicated it to his recently-deceased father. It includes text from Psalms 23 and 130, the traditional Latin liturgy, and the English Burial Service. Last performed by the NCC in 2007, Requiem features exquisite soprano solos, sung by the chorus's long standing soloist Julie Drown. Accompaniment was provided by Elia Desjardins on harp, Anna Brown on cello, T Bradley Stouffer on timpani, Peter Gilmartin on oboe, Julia Fickes on flute, and Peter Beardsley on organ.
Fall 2012
Saturday 1 December, 7:30 pm ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 2 December, 3 pm ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT (Watch the video) Alan Rowe, Musical Director
Jean Anderson, piano
Rebecca Kauffman, harp
Andrew Mallon, marimba
Brayden Baird, guitar
The program featured Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols and Conrad Susa's Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest.
Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976) began work on A Ceremony of Carols in 1942 “to alleviate the boredom” while returning to England from America on a Swedish cargo ship. His inspiration for the 10 carols came from the ancient texts he discovered in The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems. Originally composed for treble voices with harp accompaniment, its popularity led the publisher to commission Julius Harrison to create the mixed voice arrangement that the Chorus performs.
Conrad Susa composed Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest as a companion piece for Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols. It was commissioned and premiered in 1992 by Philip Brunnelle, director of the Plymouth Music Series of Minnesota. Inspired by a collection of traditional Spanish carols sung in the Southwest, Susa's carols honor the riches of the spirit in the face of poverty by telling the story of the nativity as seen through the eyes of peasants. The piece evokes family life and appeals to the child within each of us. Susa's choice of instrumentation (harp, guitar, and marimba) sprang from his "overriding image of a Southwestern piñata party for the new baby."
Summer Lite 2012
Friday 3 August, 7:30 pm ~ First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday 4 August, 7:30 pm ~ Haverhill Congregational Church, Haverhill, NH
Bob Mead, Guest Conductor
Jean Anderson, Pianist
Alan Rowe, Musical Director
This program of short works included a set of sacred pieces followed by American Spirituals, folk songs, popular standards, and a medley from The Fantasticks.
Spring 2012
Friday 4 May, 7:30 pm ~ First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday 5 May, 7:30 pm ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 6 May, 3 pm ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT (Watch the video) Guest soloist ~ Geoffrey Penar, Baritone
Alan Rowe, Musical Director
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate ... This spring, at a time when the rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, the North Country Chorus presented three concerts featuring the works of William Shakespeare. Under the leadership of Music Director Alan Rowe and accompanied by pianist Jean Anderson, the Chorus sang arrangements adapted from Shakespeare’s plays and poems set to classical and contemporary music.
Soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony. British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams created the exquisitely lovely Serenade to Music and Three Shakespeare Songs, including the hauntingly evocative “The Cloud-Capp’d Towers,” all of which the Chorus performed, honoring the 140th anniversary of the composer's birth.
With hey ho, the wind and the rain, it raineth every day. The Chorus sang three songs composed by American Matthew Harris within the last decade. Audiences may remember his setting of Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales, which the Chorus performed in 2009. In John Rutter’s jazzy rendition of “It Was a Lover and His Lass” the Bard tells us what was going on between the acres of the rye. Shakespeare’s text was also featured in works by William Schuman, Nils Lindberg, and Emma Lou Diemer.
Let all the world in every corner sing ... In addition to the Shakespeare songs, the Chorus performed excerpts from Vaughan Williams’s setting of George Herbert’s Five Mystical Songs, which featured guest baritone soloist Geoffrey Penar, a St. Johnsbury Academy alumnus, and a 2011 Honors graduate of the Eastman School of Music. Geoffrey also treated the audience to songs by Brahms and Mozart. He is currently in the Masters Program in Opera Performance at the McGill University Schulich School of Music, in the studio of Sanford Sylvan.
Christmas 2011
sung in English
Friday 2 December ~ First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday 3 December ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 4 December ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT (Watch the video)
Soloists:
Julie Drown, soprano
Maria Weber Lamson, alto
Phil Brown, tenor
Gary Moreau, bass
“Christians, be joyful, and praise your salvation.” So begins J.S. Bach’s exuberant first cantata in the Christmas Oratorio. The trumpets’ blare, the timpani’s boom, and the 75 voices of the North Country Chorus announce the celebration of Christ’s birth. They will be supported by a 15-piece orchestra, including NCC pianist Jean Anderson of Peacham playing continuo.
“Break forth, O beauteous, heavenly light.” In addition to the exuberant choruses, audience will enjoy reflective chorales, many familiar to the ear as popular hymn tunes, as well as arias, airs and recitatives from the soloists.
Bach composed this work as six cantatas, each intended for a major feast day of the Christmas season. Part I, for Christmas Day, describes the Birth of Jesus; part II, the annunciation to the shepherds; part III, the adoration of the shepherds, part IV, the circumcision and naming of Jesus; part V, the journey of the Magi; and part VI, for Epiphany, the adoration of the Magi.
Summer Lite 2011
A program of short pieces from many traditions – sacred, folk, contemporary, jazz, musical theater, pop standards
Bob Mead, Guest Conductor
Thursday 4 August at 7:30 pm, Peacham (VT) Congregational Church
Saturday 6 August at 7:30 pm, Bradford (VT) Congregational Church – Katrina Munn Memorial Concert
Honoring the memory of the former organist and choir director of the church and accompanist of NCC
Spring 2011
Saturday 30 April ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 1 May ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT Four Serious Songs, Opus 121 by Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)
1. Denn es gehet dem Menschen wie dem Vieh
4. Wenn ich mit Menschen-und mit Engelzungen redete
Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795 by Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828), text by Willhelm Müller
1. Das Wandern
4. Danksagung an den Bach
6. Der Neugierige
Gary Moreau, baritone
Jean Anderson, piano
~~~~~~~~~
Gavotte with Variations by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 – 1764)
Impromptu in G flat, D 899 by Franz Schubert
Diane Huling, piano
~~~~~~~~~
A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms
(sung in English)
Alan Rowe, Musical Director
Julie Drown, soprano, and Gary Moreau, baritone
Jean Anderson and Diane Huling, piano (Brahms’s own four-hand piano arrangement)
In contrast to the traditional Catholic Mass for the Dead in Latin, Brahms selected the texts for his Requiem from the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha of the Lutheran Bible. These passages offer peace and glory to the dead while conveying comfort and hope to the living. Click here to read notes on Brahms' Requiem written by Gary E. Wait for the August 1984 performance by the North Country Chorus and the Randolph Singers, with the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra.
Christmas 2010
Saturday 4 December ~ Haverhill (NH) Congregational Church
Sunday 5 December ~ Peacham (VT) Congregational Church (Watch the video) Soloists
Julie Drown, Soprano
Maria Lamson, Alto
Phil Brown, Tenor
Gary Moreau, Bass
Alan Rowe , Musical Director
Orchestra
Violins: Larry Blaine, David Fickes
Viola: Paul Reynolds
Cello: Doug Kendall
Bass: Evan Premo
Trumpet: David Heintz
Timpani: Matt Nolan
Continuo: Jean Anderson
Spring 2010
Gloria, Francis Poulenc
Abenlied zu Gott, Franz Joseph Haydn
Five Hebrew Love Songs, Eric Whitacre, text by Hila Plitmann
Friday, May 14, 2009 ~ First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday, May 15, 2009 ~ United Church of Christ, Bradford, VT
Sunday, May 16, 2009 ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT
Christmas 2009
A Child's Christmas In Wales, a cantata composed by Matthew Harris and based on the memoir by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.
Friday 4 December ~ First Congregational Church, Littleton, NH
Saturday 5 December ~ Wells River (VT) Congregational Church
Sunday 6 December ~ Peacham (VT) Congregational Church
Spring 2009
Symphony of Psalms by Igor Stravinsky
Two settings of James Agee's text: Sure on This Shining Night
* Solo arrangement by Samuel Barber, Soprano Julie Drown
* Choral setting by Morten Lauridsen
Friday 1 May ~ United Church of Christ, Bradford, VT
Saturday 2 May ~ Wells River Congregational Church, Wells River, VT
Sunday 3 May ~ Peacham Congregational Church, Peacham, VT Accompaniment by Pianist Jean Anderson of Peacham and organist Karen Miller of East Hardwick
Maurice Duruflé composed his Requiem in 1947 and dedicated it to the memory of his father. While most of its thematic material comes from the Gregorian Mass for the Dead, it is calmer and more contemplative than most other settings of that text.
Igor Stravinsky was commissioned to write Symphony of Psalms in 1930 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He chose verses from Psalms 39, 40 and 150 as the text for the piece's three movements.
