The Bach Choir of Bethlehem performs John Rutter's Gloria on Tuesday's Noontime Concert. The broadcast opens with Walton’s uplifting “Coronation Te Deum,” written for the 1952 coronation of Elizabeth II.
In between will be more reflective music by American composer Morten Lauridsen – his 1980 cycle “Mid-Winter Songs,” after poetry of Robert Graves – and the choir’s namesake Johann Sebastian Bach – his Cantata 118 “O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht” (“O Jesus Christ, light of my life”).
The concert will be led by the ensemble’s long-time artistic director, Greg Funfgeld. Ross Amico is your host for this broadcast.
The Bach Choir, which gave its first performance of Bach’s Mass in B minor all the way back in 1898, is America’s oldest Bach choir and one of the crown jewels of the Lehigh Valley music scene. Its performances have attracted international acclaim.