In the packed Fussach parish church, the choir, conducted by Michael Jagg, provided uplifting moments with a spirited variety of choral literature and earned thunderous applause.
Fussach Many approving “Aahs” and “Oohs” were elicited from the attentive audience as each piece of music was announced by a choir member. such as For example, right at the beginning, after Josep Vila’s lively “Laudate Dominum” and Markus Düringer’s welcome, Henry Purcell’s famous “Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts” was heard. This hymn was composed for the funeral of Queen Mary II of England and first performed at her funeral ceremony in March 1695. It is still heard today at every funeral of a member of the royal family, most recently at that of Queen Elizabeth II. The guests also listened devoutly to the motet for eight-part choir by Felix Mendelssohn – “The Lord has commanded his angels”, a challenge for every singing community that the choir St. Nikolaus mastered brilliantly. Accompanied on the piano by Karlheinz Blum, swinging songs like “Shout for Joy” (composer Dan Davison) or “Make a Joyful Noise” (composer Sally Albrecht), both pieces of music “souvenirs” by the choir director Jagg from further training courses, also brought a happy mood to the parish church.
The Norwegian Ola Gjeilo has been one of the most frequently performed composers on the vocal music scene for several years. His music is characterized by spherical beauty and mystical timbre. The heartily sung “Ubi Caritas” caused goosebumps, as did the six-part choral piece “Abendlied”, which the Liechtenstein composer Josef Gabriel Rheinberger composed at the age of 15. The wonderful Rhaeto-Romanic song “La sera sper il lag” (The evening by the lake) by Gion Balzer Casanova from Graubünden made things exciting both in terms of interpretation and language.
Von “Praise the Lord” twice “Over the rainbow”
Until the end of the program, which was arranged very sensitively by choir director Jagg, sacred and secular songs alternated at a brisk pace. Another “Laudate Dominum”, composed by Dan Davison for mixed choir with piano accompaniment, delighted the audience. (Translated, the text means: Praise the Lord, all heathens! Praise him, all peoples! Because his grace and truth will rule over us forever. Hallelujah! It got a bit melancholy when the mixed choir played the well-known song “That lonesame road”. Beste gave, a piece composed by the versatile American musician James Vernon Taylor, entitled “Walk down this lonely road – alone – don’t look back and only stop to rest when the silver moon shines high above the trees”. it in the song. In the spirited piece “Make a joyful noise”, some choir members demonstrated not only singing skill but also tact with rhythmic clapping. With the well-known Hollywood hit “Over the rainbow” by Harold Arlen, once made famous by the interpretation of the Child stars Judy Garland in the film “The Wizard of Oz”, the eclectic choir completed its musical rainbow.
After stormy applause, the student song “Ergo Bibamus” was the encore with the charming invitation to toast the successful evening together with a glass of fine “Klangsteinwein”.
