The Chorale unites with musicians around the world to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by featuring Bach’s great Cantata 80, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. An orchestra chosen for the Baroque repertoire joins the Chorale, along with a quartet of acclaimed vocal soloists. Performances are on Saturday, October 28, at 7 pm, and Sunday, October 29, at 3 pm, both at the Monomoy Performing Arts Center, Monomoy Regional High School in Harwich.
“Our orchestra starts off these concerts by playing the Overture from Handel’s Music for the
Royal Fireworks,” says Music Director Joe Marchio. “That piece was really the spark for this
program, with its brilliant explosions of sound—Handel’s sonic portrayal of a fireworks
display. So much of the music from this era is celebratory in nature, and sparkles musically
as well.”
Baroque composers were called on to create music for diverse occasions: victory in war, the
signing of peace treaties, royal birthdays ... or just to entertain a monarch out for an evening
on the water. And whether the tone was lighthearted, martial, or soothing, it was music
designed to please. Besides the “Fireworks” overture, examples on the program include
selections from Handel’s Ode for St. Cecelia’s Day (“The Trumpet’s Loud Clangour”), his
oratorio Alexander’s Feast, and of course his famous “Water Music” suites, written for King
George I’s sunset cruise down the Thames in 1717; as well as Henry Purcell’s “Come, ye
Sons of Art” from his Ode for Queen Mary’s Birthday.
Some of our profoundest sacred music also comes from the Baroque era, especially from
Johann Sebastian Bach, who is represented on the program by two of his greatest cantatas.
BWV 80, Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, is being performed often this October, because it was
in October of 1517 that Martin Luther published his famous “98 Theses,” launching the
Protestant Reformation. Bach’s cantata, composed around Luther’s famous hymn “A Mighty
Fortress Is Our God,” commemorates that event. BWV 50, Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft(“Now is come salvation and strength”), is a gorgeously complex movement for double
chorus, thought to be part of a lost cantata and written to celebrate St. Michael’s Day.

All of this music calls for great virtuosity on the part of the chorus, instrumentalists, and
especially the soloists, and audiences will be privileged to hear some of the best young
singers currently performing this repertoire. Soprano Ilana Davidson, heard this summer with the Chatham Chorale Chamber Singers at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, is a
Grammy Award–winning artist whose repertoire spans the 12 th through the 21 st centuries, and opera to oratorio; she has appeared with major orchestras and opera companies
internationally. The versatile mezzo soprano Krista Rivers was hailed by the New York Times
for her “shimmering voice ... the virtuosity of a violinist and the expressivity of an actress.”
Based in Boston, she is regular soloist with Emmanuel Music’s renowned Bach Cantata
Series. Tenor Charles Blandy, also a regular at Emmanuel, performs the Baroque repertoire
at major venues around the country, and his “clear, focused, gorgeous tenor voice” has been
heard in many opera roles. Baritone Ryne Cherry, another Boston-based opera, oratorio, and
ensemble singer, has been praised for his “velvety tone” (examiner.com) and dramatic
interpretations. He too was heard in this summer’s concert of Rossini’s Petite Messe
Solonelle with the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival.
“I’m especially thrilled that we’ve been able to assemble a full Baroque orchestra for these
performances,” says Marchio. “Some of the scores call for three trumpets and three oboes,
and the effect is so exciting.” Holding down the keyboard part in the all-important Baroque
continuo passages will be longtime Chorale accompanist and Cape Symphony member
Donald Enos.