Welcome Summer Recital Series: Chichester Psalms

The Welcome Summer Recital Series begins on Wednesday, June 6, at 7:00 p.m. with a concert featuring the Festival Chorus and Orchestra performing the Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Chichester Cathedral, in Sussex, England, is the seat of a sacred music legacy that dates to the early 17^th century. Each year the cathedral collaborates with its neighboring cathedrals at Winchester and Salisbury, a tradition that dates back to 1904. In 1965 The Very Reverend Dr. Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral, commissioned the American composer Leonard Bernstein to compose a work based on the psalms. Each of the three movements of Chichester Psalms contains the complete Hebrew text of one psalm and a selected passage from another.  The relationship between the two texts shows considerable thoughtfulness by Bernstein, both as to the meaning and to the musical possibilities. Chichester Psalms is one of the most exciting and well-loved works in the choral repertoire. The concert, which features brass, percussion, harp and organ, also includes the thrilling Gloria by John Rutter. Offerings will benefit CARITAS.

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