Oratorio Society, Nachtmusik Orchestra present ?Creation'

KAYSVILLE — The April 29 offering of the Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities will be the Oratorio Society of Utah and Nachtmusik Orchestra’s presentation of Franz Joseph Haydn’s "The Creation." Dr. Marden Pond will conduct.

The Oratorio Society of Utah, founded in 1915, is a non-denominational choral organization, Linda Faldmo Lee said in an April 20 interview with the Intermountain Catholic. Lee is married to Morris F. Lee, director of the Oratorio Society. Morris Lee steps down from the conductor’s podium for the Madeleine Festival presentation and, with Linda, will be one of six featured solo performers. In addition to the Lees, featured soloists include James Miller (tenor), Karen Brookens Potter (soprano), Paul R. Seager (bass-baritone), and Tyler Oliphant (Baritone). Linda Lee is a soprano; Morris sings tenor.

Nachtmusik Orchestra specializes in 18th century masterpieces, and is comprised of accomplished professional musicians, music educators, and college and university faculty, as well as advanced college music students from the Wasatch Front.

"The Oratorio Society is made up of professional voices who volunteer to sing with us, and who also sing with many different choirs and choral groups in Utah," Lee said.

Vocalists and musicians have been rehearsing for about 10 weeks for their Festival presentation, she said. "In addition to the soloists, we have from 50-60 members of the choir and 35 orchestra members."

The Oratorio Society of Utah is one of the oldest community music groups west of the Mississippi, Lee said. "Since its inception in 1915, thousands of people have gone through the Society. They put in hundreds of hours of rehearsal time and travel throughout the world at their own expense just for the love of music and the love of performing."

The Society was the first choral group to perform Handel’s "Messiah" in Israel, she said.

Linda Lee has been singing since age 3, and has sung with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Her husband began playing the piano at age 12. He has conducted the Society for 19 years. He holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in music from the University of Utah.

One of the biggest challenges the Society faces, she said, is finding rehearsal space. "Churches and schools have been very generous in offering us space. It is a real joy to perform in a space as beautiful and as inspiring as the Cathedral of the Madeleine."

"The Creation," along with "The Seasons" and a number of great Mass compositions are considered the great choral masterpieces of Haydn’s old age, all of them composed after 1795. Haydn died in 1809 at the age of 77. Like opera and most oratorios, "The Creation" is divided into acts and scenes which consist of choruses, recitatives, and arias.

"I was never so devout as during that time when I was working on ‘The Creation,’" Haydn said of this composition.

‘"The Creation" is rich in orchestral color, adventurous harmonies, exceptional rhythmic and melodic inventiveness," writes John Bawden, musical director of the Fareham Philharmonic Choir from 1994 - 2006.

Parts one and two of "The Creation" describe the six days of creation, Bawden explains. Part three is devoted to the appearance of Adam.

The performance of "The Creation" is free and open to the public. It begins at 8 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Madeleine. For further information about this event and other events of the 2007 Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities, call 328-8941.