This fall AURA Chamber Choir will be presenting the concert “In Remembrance” to honour those who sacrificed their lives in the hope that we could live in a free country.
The first half of the program consists of war poems set to music by modern composers as well as famous hymns sung in the trenches. These include works such as Holst’s 8 part a cappella I vow to thee my Country and Eleanor Daley’s For the Fallen with solo trumpet.
The second half of the program celebrates the “Joy of Remembering”. These musical arrangements include Imant Raminsh’s setting of the war poem A Shining Peace, Robert Shaw’s All Creatures of Our God and King, and Lauridson’s On this Shining Night.
Highlights of the program include two Ukrainian songs: Plyve Cacha is a haunting Ukrainian folk song sung by the men. This piece has now become an anthem song in Ukraine honouring those who died in Maidan in 2014. The women then answer this piece with an uplifting song of Hope: Nadija, music written by Larysa Kuzmenko and words by famous Ukrainian poet Lesia Ukrainka. Hope is described both on a personal level and as the hope for an independent and free nation. AURA will also be performing His Voice as the Sound an incredible American folk song, with recorder, organ and Harp, as well as Biebl’s 8 part Ave Maria.
It’s a program sure to please all with its intense beauty and classics such as Vivaldi’s Gloria, Healey Willan’s Gloria Deo Per Immensa Saecula, and Mozart’s Italian Placido E Il Mar. Along with these classics will come new settings such as In Remembrance by Eleanor Daley and Abide with Me, a stunning new arrangement by Greg Jasperse.
If you go to one Remembrance Day Program this year, AURA invites you to come to this one.
Those attending will leave with a feeling of hope for a bright future, and a thankful heart to those who fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy today. Under direction from AURA’s new musical director Tami Harker, In Remembrance will be presented Saturday November 9th at 7:30pm, and Sunday November 10th at 2:00pm, at All Saints Anglican Church (3205 27th Street, Vernon). Tickets are $18.00, students free; available from choir members, at the Bean Scene, or at the door.
AURA Chamber Choir 