Photo above by Nancy Viall Shoemaker
On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, Christ the King Church in Mashpee hosted one of the largest choral events ever staged on Cape Cod. Three distinguished Cape Cod music directors brought together more than 200 musicians in a performance of Beethoven’s monumental Ninth Symphony. Musicians from virtually every town on Cape Cod, and many from the broader region, presented the results of a months-long collaboration to master this demanding work which is, in the view of many, the greatest musical composition ever written.
Beethoven’s last complete symphony, and the only one to include a choral component, the Ninth is seldom performed outside of major urban venues due to its scale and complexity. It was performed at Christ the King Church in Mashpee to a sell-out audience. And they were stirred. In the words of veteran singer and Chatham Chorale Membership Chair Charles Bihler, "in my long experience, I cannot remember a spontaneous audience outburst as we received after the last notes faded away."
Stephen Simon (shown in photo below, center), director and conductor of the Simon Sinfonietta, conducted an expanded orchestra, including a larger-than-usual complement of strings, winds, and brass. Under his inspired leadership, two highly esteemed Cape Cod-based choral directors — John Yankee (left), artistic director of the Falmouth Chorale and T. Joseph Marchio (right), director of the Chatham Chorale — combined ranks to create a chorus of 150 voices for the incomparably moving finale, “Ode to Joy.” The three were interviewed in advance of the concert by Bonnie Ward Simon. (Please see "An Interview with Three Conductors" video listed at left.)
Photo above courtesy The Enterprise Newspapers
The Simon Sinfonietta’s internationally recognized director attracted a cadre of outstanding soloists for the occasion: soprano Mary Thorne of New York City, mezzo-soprano Mary Westerbrook-Geha of Vermont, the noted Boston tenor Jason McStoots, and bass Nathan Bahny of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus.
Since its completion in 1824, Beethoven’s Ninth has demonstrated extraordinary emotive powers in, and well beyond, the concert hall. As the symphony proceeds toward its finale, which includes a choral interpretation of Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” Beethoven’s music evokes a range of grand human themes — from sorrow and suffering to brotherhood, heroism, triumph, and exultation. Around the world, Beethoven’s Ninth has served as inspiration for the anthems of nations and political movements, as well for as for cultural icons as diverse as the Christian hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” and a musical theme in Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film A Clockwork Orange.
As described by Maestro Simon, the symphony’s first movement, “with its brooding, pulsing, opening triplets, sets a high tone of expectation. The Scherzo brings its own elements of drama in the outbursts of solo timpani and...the Adagio sets a mood of mellow contemplation, before yielding to the brilliant Finale with its magnificent choral “Ode to Joy.”
The Simon Sinfonietta chamber orchestra was founded in 2004 by Stephen Simon who, with his wife Bonnie Ward Simon, directed the Kennedy Center’s Washington (D.C.) Chamber Symphony for 26 years. Stephen Simon’s successful recordings include the prize-winning Beethoven Piano Concerti with Anthony Newman as the soloist for the Newport Classics label. Stephen and Bonnie Ward Simon have recently embarked on a highly acclaimed recording project to make their concerts available on a series of CDs for young people and their parents.
The Falmouth Chorale has inspired and educated singers and audiences with fine choral music for nearly half a century. The Chorale’s director John Yankee, who holds Master’s degrees from the Yale School of Music and the University of Pittsburgh, previously led the San Diego Choral Union, the San Diego Children’s Choir, the Telluride Choral Society, and the Telluride Chamber Orchestra and Repertory Company. Mr. Yankee was also guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra South Shore Chorus and Chicago Civic Orchestra.
The Chatham Chorale has brought many of the world’s most outstanding choral works to enthusiastic Cape Cod audiences since its founding in 1970. The Chorale’s newly appointed music director T. Joseph Marchio, who holds a Master of Divinity degree for the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and a Master of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory, is also Minister of Music at First Congregational Church in Chatham, adjunct faculty member at Cape Cod Community College, and conductor of Boston’s Cantata 4 Ensemble.
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