Singers: Rehearsals for Fauré’s “Requiem” Begin Feb. 11
Having gained momentum after its previous packed-house concerts, the First Presbyterian Church of Monrovia Concert Choir will now begin preparation for its annual Good Friday Concert and Meditation this Thursday, Feb. 11.
The choir, under the direction of Peter Green, Director of Music at the church, will hold rehearsals Thursdays from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. beginning this week and continuing to the performance on Friday, April 2 of Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem”.
Unlike Requiem compositions that preceded it, Fauré, according to various sources, moved into new musical territory with a style later adopted by Ravel and Debussy, leaving behind the deeply somber Germanic styles of over 200 years and providing, as Fauré himself said, “something new, a sort of Lullaby of Death”. Fauré’s work was premiered in its orchestral version in 1900 and heard in the United States in 1931. The April 2 performance of this work at the church will be with orchestra.
Singers interested in joining this choir should be at the Choir Room of the First Presbyterian Church of Monrovia, 101 E. Foothill Blvd, Monrovia this Thursday. For more information, please call (626) 358-3297, Ext. 205.
By Bill Peters
