Sacred Music in a Sacred Space Begins 2014-15 Choral Season Tonight

After a triumphant season debut in 2013 heralded as "broad, wide-ranging and powerful" by The New York Times, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space begins its 2014-15 Choral season tonight, October 22 at 7pm with Mozart's Mass in C minor-a majestic setting featuring double chorus. The Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola and a phenomenal line-up of soloists (Martha Guth and Marguerite Krull, sopranos; Steven Caldicott Wilson, tenor; Christopher Dylan Herbert, baritone) under the direction of K. Scott Warren offer this iconic work on a program that opens with Haydn's Symphony No. 97. Tickets are $25-$80; purchase by clicking here or call 212-288-2520.

An intensely personal, rule-breaking composition, Mozart's Great Mass in C minor is a riveting statement about the complex mixture of joy and pain in human relationships, one that transcended the proscribed Austrian Mass tradition at the time of its composition. The use of double chorus, according to SMSS Artistic Director K. Scott Warren, would have been remarkable and unexpected for listeners at the time. And soloist Marguerite Krull marvels at Mozart's ability to write a duet for two sopranos where each vocal line has a completely different color and personality. Click below to see more of K. Scott Warren and Marguerite Krull's discussion on Mozart and Haydn.

Meanwhile, Haydn composed his Symphony No. 97 while living in London as the guest of German-born impresario Johann Peter Solomon. One of Haydn's most complex orchestral works, this "London" Symphony is a clear example of why Haydn became known as the "Father of the Symphony." Of his unusual decision to program this symphony with the Great Mass, Warren says that the symphony can function equally well as an overture to the Mass and as a standalone work.

Mozart and Haydn thought very highly of each other, both as composers and as people. Mozart was sufficiently impressed by Haydn's string quartets that he composed six of his own that he dedicated to Haydn. The older composer, in turn, was aware of his stature as Europe's leading composer but acknowledged Mozart as his superior. The two works on this program shed light not only on each composer's considerable musical influence, but also on their deep personal and artistic relationship.

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