Voices of Ascension

Dennis Keene, conductor

Three master composers of the 19th and 20th century with three of their greatest works, each one hardly ever performed. Brahms’ Nänie is a lyrical, voluptuous setting of the setting of the Schiller ode about life and mortality. It contains some of the most beautiful music Brahms ever composed.

Zoltán Kodály considered his Psalmus Hungaricus his greatest composition. This extraordinary, passionate work gives voice to the suffering and perseverance of the Hungarian people in the years following World War I, and their longing for dignity and self-determination in the face of foreign rule. The Brahms and Kodály pieces will be heard in brand new transcriptions made for The Manton Memorial Organ by Dennis Keene, with tenor soloist Miles Mykkanen.

Known for his Requiem, the Messe ‘cum jubilo’ is Maurice Duruflé’s other major choral work. Dedicated to his wife, it is filled with love and joy, and is scored for orchestra and a chorus of 30 baritones in unison! We believe this is only the third time this exceptional piece has ever been performed in New York with orchestra.