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Dear friends and colleagues Pro Coro’s annual Good Friday concert is only a few days away. As I’m sure you’re aware, it is challenging to prepare a performance under the current circumstances. Our 12 singers are spaced 3 meters apart, which requires an area of minimum 110 square meters for rehearsal/performance. Of course, we’re always interested in a good acoustic, and need to locate rooms and halls with approximately double this size. Our concert on Friday, April 2, will be live-streamed from the Faith & Life Chapel on Augustana Campus in Camrose. As mentioned, I want to share some thoughts about the program for Good Friday. I hope this will provide some insight into the shaping of a concert program, and maybe inspire and guide perspectives on repertoire choices for other choral pedagogues. When shaping a concert that is so clearly defined by a religious feast-day, I start with the text and the narrative. In the instance of Good Friday, I want to lead the listener through contemplation of the Passion of Christ, and provide some outside commentaries. The opening work by Casals is like a request or demand, when we say ‘O all you who pass by this way, behold and see whether there is any sorrow like my sorrow!’. We want you to stop what you are doing right now, and contemplate the fate and the pain of the human on the cross. The next three major works are then to be considered chronologically, from the 9 Responsories of Maundy Thursday through to the Responsories of Holy Saturday. With the work by Stephanie Martin, we follow the story of Christ from Gethsemane at the Mount of Olives, through his gatherings with his disciples, including the story of Judas, to his capture. At this point, arriving on Good Friday, I added a different persona to the narrative: the sorrowful mother (Stabat Mater, by Tõnu Kõrvits). I have always appreciated this text and even more so when I became a parent myself. The idea of seeing one’s child suffer, and not being able to help and ease the pain, is a devastating thought. The composition by Pawel Lukaszewski picks up the thread with two sections from the Good Friday Responsories, starting with ‘Darkness covered the whole land when Jesus had been crucified’. From the 3rd to the final, 5th movement, the text selection is from the Holy Saturday Responsories, including once more O Vos Omnes as the call to ‘behold and see whether there is any sorrow like my sorrow’. This middle section with three major works is rich in imagery, spirituality and emotionally, and also lasts a total of about 40 minutes (separated by the intermission). Framing it, I chose two shorter works to bookend and mirror the opening work by Casals. I selected Lotti’s Crucifixus as a perspective on the physical aspect of the suffering, and act of burial. The movement from Handel’s Messiah With His Stripes then refers to a spiritual aspect of healing, not physical. Being healed is speaking of being forgiven and saved. Finally, the hymn It Is Finished (tune name Edmonton) is the only direct reference to the resurrection. The four verses lead us from the Crucifixion to the empty tomb on Easter morning. There are several additional connections to previous works, for example the sorrowful mother / Stabat Mater, who now has departed. I believe that the final sentence ‘As the angels of the morning trumpet in another day, see the wounded God walking down the world’s eternal way, for his task is never done.’ provides a meaningful conclusion to this Good Friday concert. I hope you find these thoughts about the program useful, and an applicable guide if you happen to listen to our concert this Friday. Programming choral music is a great passion of mine, and I look forward to sharing future ideas. Please note that our next edition of EAR will come mid-April. I hope you’re enjoying our content, please reach out if you are interested in a specific topic.
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