This blockbuster concert for Peace by Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble, chamber orchestra and soloists features two of the most moving musical pleas for peace written in recent times: Britten’s Cantata Misericordium and Dona Nobis Pacem for choir and strings by the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks
Cantata Misericordium

Benjamin Britten’s dramatic cantata for tenor & baritone soloists, choir, strings, piano, harp, and timpani is based on the story of the Good Samaritan. The work was composed for the centenary of the Red Cross and received is premiere in Geneva on Sept. 1, 1963. Its central theme of mercy and love for all, particularly for those who are not of our own belief system or customs, is a timely and apt theme for today’s world. Written just two years after his monumental War Requiem, this work shares much in common with its predecessor and is one of Britten’s most personal statements.

Dona Nobis Pacem
The Latvian composer Peteris Vasks wrote this searingly beautiful meditation for choir and string orchestra as a desperate cry for universal peace and reconciliation and as a witness to the ecological destruction wrought by the Soviets on his homeland. This is music that speaks directly to the heart and provokes the mind.

Jeffrey Van: The Beatitudes

Johannes Brahms: “Unsere Väter hofften auf dich” from Fest-und Gedenksprücke

Josef Rheinberger: “Kyrie” and “Agnus Dei” from Cantus Missae

Charles Ives: Serenity

Pierre Villette: Attende, Domine

Sir Edward Elgar: Agnus Dei (Choral setting of “Nimrod” from the Enigma Variations)

Composers
Peteris Vasks; Benjamin Britten; Johannes Brahms; Charles Ives; Josef Rheinberger; Pierre Villette; Sir Edward Elgar; Jeffrey Van