Hymn to the Dawn

Featuring

Derek Greten-Harrison
Grace Cloutier
Jessica Petrus
Amanda Sidebottom
Heather Petrie
Estelí Gomez

Noah Horn
Arianne Abela
Allison Holst-Grubbe
Rebekah Westphal
Alan Murchie
Etherea Vocal Ensemble
Gustav Holst
Sergei Prokofiev
Amy Beach
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Gioachino Rossini

Did you know?

1/7

Critical Reception

The smaller-scale choral compositions of Felix Mendelssohn, like those of Rheinberger, have been unfairly neglected until recent decades, overshadowed by his grand oratorios.

Composition History

Gioachino Rossini, a wildly successful opera composer, stopped composing operas at age 38 after churning out 38 works in over twenty years, but continued to write other compositions, including sacred works.

Composer Biography

Josef Rheinberger, an acclaimed organist, conductor, and conservatory professor, was probably the only composer of note to hail from the tiny nation of Liechtenstein, though he spent most of his life in Munich.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Gustav Holst, though he wrote Christian sacred music, found spiritual meaning in Hindu beliefs and Sanskrit literature, leading him to compose settings of texts from the Rig Veda.

Composer Biography

Amy Beach, America's first widely acclaimed female composer, wrote her Three Shakespeare Choruses while still known as Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, as her husband, a socially prominent Boston physician, restricted her performing activities but allowed her to compose.

Historical Context

Original works for female chorus were rare until late in the Romantic period due to women's domestic roles and societal restrictions, making it difficult for them to form choirs.

Composition History

Mendelssohn's inspiration for setting his Drei Motetten for women's voices came from his 1830 visit to Rome, where he heard the singing of French nuns at the Church of Trinità Dei Monti.