LEWISTON — Directed by John Corrie, the Bates College Choir performs Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Magnificat” in concert at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.
Admission is free, but tickets are required, available at bit.ly/oacbates. For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.
Vivaldi was born in 1678 in Venice, where he spent virtually all his life, and died in 1741 in Vienna. He wrote three settings of the “Gloria,” part of the Roman Catholic Mass, during his long tenure as violin master at the Ospedale della Pietà, which was less a hospital than a residence for the mistresses and illegitimate daughters of Venetian noblemen.
The subject of numerous musical settings, the “Magnificat” — the Virgin Mary’s song in a response to the Annunciation — is one of the oldest Christian hymns and originally formed part of the Roman Catholic service of Vespers.
Johann Sebastian Bach lived from 1685 until 1750. Written during his term as cantor of the Thomasschule in Leipzig and music director for the town’s churches, his original Magnificat was composed for the Christmas Vespers in 1723.
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