BRATTLEBORO — In mid-April, the Blanche Moyse Chorale will perform settings of the Latin Mass by the Russian/American composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) and by the Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974).
The concert will be performed twice: at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 10, at Immanuel Episcopal Church in Bellows Falls, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 12, at Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro.
To characterize the musical revolution of the early 20th century, Chorale director Mary Westbrook-Geha has chosen two choral gems, differing from each other as much as they differ from the great Masses of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.
Stravinsky's Mass for Mixed Chorus and a Double Wind Quintet and Martin's Mass for Unaccompanied Double Chorus are relatively short compositions. Martin composed his Mass soon after World War I, when, as a young man, he was searching for a musical style that he could call his own.
Stravinsky's Mass, written a quarter of a century later, immediately after World War II, shows what some have called a mature style - reflecting his exposure to Schoenberg and other innovators of the time.
Both works display rhythmic and harmonic inventiveness which is bound to tease, and please, this concert's listeners - even those with staunchly classical ears.
The Blanche Moyse Chorale, founded in 1978 as a program of the Brattleboro Music Center, is a chamber chorus of approximately 30 singers, who strive to attain the high level of musical artistry exemplified by its original director, Blanche Moyse.
For many years, the Chorale was the choral arm of the New England Bach Festival. Since 2007, director Mary Westbrook-Geha has led the Chorale in performances of works by Handel, Copeland, Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, Britten, Palestrina, Brahms, and J.S. Bach. Although based in the Brattleboro area, the Chorale includes singers from neighboring states and beyond.