Event III: 8:00 PM, Saturday, March 3, 2012 (7:15 pre-concert talk by Arthur S. Reynolds, Chairman, The Elgar Society, North American Branch)
Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, a cantata by Edward Elgar, with Arve Tellefsen, violin, Brian Arreola, tenor, Deborah Selig, soprano, Bradford Gleim, baritone and The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra, Charles Kaufmann, Artisitic Director.Location: First Congregational Church United Church of Christ, 301 Cottage Road, South Portland, Maine. Call 207-232-8920 for more details.
Program
SCENES FROM THE SAGA OF KING OLAF Edward Elgar (1857–1934)PRELUDE
Nocturne, 1842 Ole Bull (1810–1880)
Arve Tellefsen & The Longfellow Chorus Orchestra
INTRODUCTION
There is a wondrous book
Deborah Selig, Brian Arreola, Bradford Gleim & The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra
1. Recitative (Bass) : Summon now the God of Thunder
Bradford Gleim
THE CHALLENGE OF THOR
2. Chorus : I am the God Thor
KING OLAF'S RETURN
3. Solo (Tenor) : And King Olaf heard the cry
Brian Arreola
4. Recitative (Bass) : Tell how Olaf bore the cross
Bradford Gleim
THE CONVERSION
5. Scene (Tenor & Bass Soli & Chorus)
Brian Areola, Bradford Gleim & The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra
Chorus : King Olaf prows the Nidaros
Olaf (Tenor) : Behold me, my people
Brian Arreola
Ironbeard (Bass) : By my beard called of Iron
Bradford Gleim
Olaf : Shall Thor and shall Odin be high gods again?
Ironbeard : Not the fair or the mighty
Olaf : O hearken, my people
Chorus : As leaps the lights of winter
Ironbeard : All-Father, I come!
Chorus : Then o'er the blood-stained Horg-stone
Olaf : O brothers of Iceland
Chorus : Receive us, King
INTERLUDE
La Mélancolie (In Moments of Solitude), 1863 Ole Bull, arranged Johan Halvorsen (1864–1935)
Arve Tellefsen & The Longfellow Chorus Orchestra
6. Rectative (Bass) : Now the child of Ironbeard dead
Bradford Gleim
GUDRUN
7. Scene (Soprano & Tenor Soli & Chorus)
Deborah Selig, Brian Arreola & The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra
Soprano : On King Olaf's bridal night
Chorus : What bridal night is this?
Olaf (Tenor) : What is that, King Olaf said, that gleams so bright above my head?
Brian Arreola
Gudrun (Soprano) : 'Tis the bodkin that I wear
Deborah Selig
Olaf : Ah! Forests have ears
Chorus : Ere the earliest peep of morn
8. Recitative (Bass) : How the Wraith of Odin old
Bradford Gleim
THE WRAITH OF ODIN
9. Chorus (Ballad) : The guests were loud, the ale was strong
INTERMISSION
INTERLUDE
Sæterjentens Søndag (The Shepherdess's Sunday), 1849 Ole Bull, arranged Johan Svendsen (1840–1911 )
Arve Tellefsen & The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra
Recitative (Bass) : Sisters, sing ye now the song
Bradford Gleim
THYRI
11. Scene (Soprano & Tenor Soli & Chorus of Maidens)
Deborah Selig, Brian Arreola & The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra
Chorus : Sigrid sits in her high abode
Olaf (Tenor) : Sigrid, hail !
Brian Arreola
Sigrid (Soprano) : Olaf, hail !
Deborah Selig
Olaf : Queen of Svithiod !
Sigrid : I hear them speak !
Olaf : I will give my body to flame
Chorus : King Olaf rises; sisters, say
Sigrid : Thou art gone !
12. Recitative (Bass) : Hark ! she flies from Wendland forth
Bradford Gleim
THYRI
13. Chorus (Ballad) : A little bird of the air
14. Duet (Soprano & Tenor)
Deborah Selig & Brian Arreola
Thyri : The gray land breaks tolively green
Olaf : Thyri, my beloved
Thyri : Sweet are thy words, but O ! meseeems
Olaf : Fear not, doubt not, weep not
Thyri : I fear not, doubt not, weap not
Thyri & Olaf : Comes the spring unchaining
15. Choral Recitative : After Queen Gunhild's death
THE DEATH OF OLAF
16. Chorus : King Olaf's dragons take the sea
Bass Recitative : In the convent of Drontheim
Bradford Gleim
Soli & Chorus : It is accepted
Deborah Selig, Brian Arreola, Brian Arreola & The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra
Chorus (unaccompanied) : As torrents in summer
Soli & Chorus : Stronger than steel
Deborah Selig, Brian Arreola, Brian Arreola & The Longfellow Chorus and Orchestra
The Longfellow 205th Birthday Choral Festival, Ole Bull, Longfellow & Elgar: Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, is supported in part through grants from The American-Scandinavian Foundation, The Sons of Norway Foundation, The Elgar Society Elgar in Performance Fund, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Music Information Centre Norway and from on-going contributions from our friends and patrons.
For more information contact The Longfellow Chorus.
Mission Statement of The Longfellow Chorus, Inc.:
The Corporation shall organize and maintain a chorus to perform and
record vocal and choral settings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetry, written from 1840 to the present, shall inspire and commission new vocal and choral
settings of Longfellow's poetry, and shall perform choral music of the
Romantic and immediate post-Romantic eras, ca. 1825–1920.
Materials on this website are protected, copyright 2007–2012, The Longfellow Chorus, Inc., Portland, Maine, USA
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e-mail: The Longfellow Chorus
The Longfellow Chorus
c/o Charles Kaufmann
P. O. Box 5133
Portland, Maine 04101
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