Brahms Program

A German Requiem Tom Trenney, conductor by Johannes Brahms This program is made possible through SUN | APR 14 | 4PM Tom Trenney is blessed to be in his tenth season as Minister of the generous support of Music to First-Plymouth Church, where he shepherds three adult choirs, accompanies the congregation on the Lied organ, Union Bank and Trust preaches sermons, and serves as Artistic Director of the Abendmusik Concert Series. In Fall 2018, Tom served as visiting Ann and Matthew Finkner conductor of the Wartburg Choir and Ritterchor Men’s Chorus at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. This Spring, Tom serves as The Collins Family: Foster, Lucy and Foster, III, visiting conductor of the Doane Choir at Doane University. Tom’s choral compositions have been published by Augsburg Fortress, in Memory of Kim Nore Collins Beckenhorst Press, E.C. Schirmer/Galaxy, Morningstar, MusicSpoke, Pavane, and G. Schirmer and his music has been Tom Trenney, conductor sung in churches and colleges around the country. A graduate of the Cleveland Sapphire Munford, soprano Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music, Tom is grateful for the inspiration of his teachers and mentors – especially Anton Armstrong, David Davidson, Craig Hella Samuel Kidd, baritone Johnson, (Mister) Fred Rogers, William Weinert, Anne Wilson and Todd Wilson. Doane University Choir Sapphire Munford, soprano Tom Trenney, guest conductor Sapphire Munford is honored to be joining Abendmusik for its performance of Brahms A German Requiem. She has been Nebraska Wesleyan University Choir performing with Abendmusik and First-Plymouth Choir for 3 years. Sapphire studied voice at Nebraska Wesleyan University William Wyman, conductor and enjoys performing as often as possible for the greater Lincoln area. Sapphire is grateful to her family for their support, Abendmusik Chorus especially her partner, Joshua, and her son, Teddy. They are always understanding of the late nights and long weekends. Tom Trenney, conductor Samuel Kidd, baritone Abendmusik Festival Orchestra Samuel Kidd is a senior studying vocal performance at the Tom Trenney, conductor University of Michigan, under the instruction of Professor Freda Herseth. He has been involved in several operas at the University in the roles of Friar Laurence in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Dr. Talbot in Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight. He won the University of Michigan Undergraduate Concerto Competition in 2016, and The Friends of Opera Undergraduate Competition in September 2017. In 2018, he was named a winner of the Michigan District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was awarded the David DiChiera award for most promising young artist. Samuel enjoys oratorio and choral singing, having performed the baritone solos in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s Creation and Mozart’s Requiem with the Plymouth Oratorio Society, and bass solos in Bach’s Mass in B minor and Montiverdi’s 1610 Vespers with Audivi and the Michigan Bach Collective.

Doane University Choir For more than a century, Doane University’s choral ensembles have inspired audiences with performances of sacred and secular Nebraska Wesleyan music. During annual national tours, the choir travels across the University Choir country and regularly tours internationally. In the last decade, they have sung concerts in 13 countries. Most recently, on the choir’s Abendmusik Chorus South Africa tour, they performed for and with the Soweto Gospel Choir. Doane Choir has performed a number of choral-orchestral works with area orchestras, including the Omaha Symphony, Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, and the Abendmusik concert series at First-Plymouth. Doane has also regularly been featured at Nebraska state music convention. The choir has worked with such noted guest conductors and artists as Simon Carrington, Eph Ely, William Hatcher, Joseph Jennings, Craig Hella Johnson, Kyle Ketelsen, James Morrow, Weston Noble, Alice Parker, Doreen Rao, Jake Runestad, Constantina Tsolainou, Eric Whitacre, and both Sir David Willcocks and his son, Jonathan Willcocks. The Emmy-nominated Nebraska Wesleyan University Choir has undertaken eight foreign concert tours and two choral residencies in Hawaii as well as annual concert tours throughout the United States. In Nebraska, the choir performed the opening concert with Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra for the Lied Center for the Performing Arts and again with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra to open the Holland Center for the Performing Arts. They have appeared regularly on convention programs for the American Choral Directors Association, Nebraska Music Educators Association and the National Association for Music Education. The Nebraska Wesleyan Choir has sung with guest conductors Aaron Copland, Eric Ericson, Randall Thompson, Robert Shaw, Paul Salamunovich, Frauke Hassemann, Craig Jessop, Sir David Willcocks, Thomas Wilkins, Edward Polochick, Gregg Smith, Daniel Pinkham and JoAnn Falletta. The Abendmusik Chorus, in its 46th season, is led by Artistic Director Tom Trenney. In addition to the choir’s annual Christmas festival, the ensemble is known for its spiritually-compelling performances of the great choral-orchestral repertoire. But more important than this are the people who are the Abendmusik Chorus. We are scientists, teachers, retailers, volunteers, policemen, baristas, doctors, waiters, students, politicians, executives, unemployed, farmers, retirees... We are each unique, but we all find sanctuary in the time we spend together on Wednesday nights- even after an exhausting day; In choir, we are invited to breathe more deeply, listen more intently, express more intentionally, and pray more fervently. In choir, we come in touch with the treasures of history and poetry and scripture. We seek harmony. We experience unity. We have been called together to sing in community, and we pray that God may give us faith to sing always!

I. Blest are they who are sorrowful.......................................................................Chorus IV. How lovely are Thy dwellings..........................................................................Chorus Matthew 5:4 Psalm 84:1, 2, 4 Blest are they who are sorrowful; blest are they that mourn; How lovely are Thy dwellings, 0 Lord of Hosts! for they shall have comfort. For my soul desireth and longeth for the courts of the Lord; Psalm 126:5,6 my soul and body sing with joy unto the living God. They who in sorrow with tears are sowing, 0 blessed! they who in Thy house are dwelling: shall with rejoicing in joy be reaping. they praise Thy name evermore! Who goeth forth and weepeth, and beareth precious seed, V. You now are sorrowful..........................................................Soprano Solo & Chorus shall come with rejoicing, and bringing his sheaves with him. John 16:22 II. For mortal flesh is as the grass.........................................................................Chorus You now are sorrowful; I Peter 1:24 grieve not: For mortal flesh is as the grass, I will again behold you, and all the comeliness of man is as the grasses’ flowers. and then your heart shall be joyful, The grass hath withered, and the flower thereof hath fallen. and your joy shall no one take from you. James 5:7,8 Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 51:35 Now therefore be patient, my dear brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Look upon me: See how the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, I suffered for a little time; and how with patience abideth toil and labor were mine; till he receiveth the morning showers and I have found, at last, comfort. and then the evening rain. Isaiah 66:13 So be you patient. I will give you comfort, I Peter 1:25 as one whom his own mother comforts. Howbeit the Lord’s word bideth forevermore. VI. For we have on earth no abiding place............................Baritone Solo & Chorus Isaiah 35:10 Hebrews 13:14 The redeemed- of the Lord shall return with singing unto Zion; For we have on earth no abiding place: but, yet we seek one to come. unto Zion they shall come with rejoicing; I Corinthians 15:51, 52, 54, 55 joy everlasting forever on their heads shall be; Lo, I unfold unto you a mystery: joy and delight shall seize them and possess them, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, and pain and sighing shall flee from them. in a moment, III. Lord, teach me to know the measure of my days............Baritone Solo & Chorus in the twinkling of an eye, Psalm 39:4, 5, 6, 7 at the time of the last trumpet! Lord, teach me to know the measure of my days on earth, For at last shall the trumpet sound, that my life has an ending, and I must perish. and the dead shall then rise up incorruptible, Surely all my days here are as a handbreadth to Thee, and we shall all be changed. and my lifetime is as naught to Thee. Then will be fulfilled the Word that is written: Surely as nothing are all of mankind, then Death shall be swallowed up in the victory. who yet securely dwell in their vanities! Death, where is thy sting! Man liveth his days like a shadow, Hell, where is thy victory! and he disquieteth himself in vain with prideful delusions; Revelation 4:11 his treasures, he knoweth not who shall gather them. Lord, Thou art worthy to have all praise and honor and power and might, Now, Lord, what then is my comfort? for Thou past heaven and earth created, My hope is in Thee. and by Thy good will do all things have their being and are created. Wisdom of Solomon 3:1 But the righteous souls are in the hand of God, VII. Blessed are the dead.......................................................................................Chorus and there no grief, nor pain, nigh them shall come. Revelation 14:13 “Blessed are the dead, who in the Lord die, from henceforth,” INTERMISSION yea, the Spirit speaks, “that they rest from all their labor; for their works do follow after them.”

A German Notes provided by When Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) titled his A German Requiem, Requiem he was writing a funeral work in the Lutheran tradition to console the Carolyn Dow living and commemorate the dead, not a German translation of the Roman Catholic liturgical mass for the dead. Brahms, himself, Polley Music Library selected and adapted passages from Martin Luther’s German Manager, translation of the Bible, from both Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha. Although Brahms did not consider himself to be religious, Lincoln City Libraries he was an avid reader of the Bible throughout his life. He often expressed that he would be happy if “German” in the title of his Johannes Brahms requiem could be replaced with “Human” as it would more accurately reflect his intent for the work. Brahms never documented who he was memorializing with his A German Requiem, but it is believed that it was his mentor, Robert Schumann, and his beloved mother. A German Requiem premiered at the Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday, 1868, with only six of the eventual seven movements (the fifth movement was omitted); Brahms conducted the premiere in Bremen. He had been working in fits and starts on a memorial work for several years, including selecting the Biblical text in 1861. His grief over the death of his mother in 1865 prompted Brahms to seriously work on completing what became his greatest choral work. Much of the work was written between 1865 and 1867, although he drew on material he had written as far back as the 1850s. The full seven movement German Requiem had a first performance in 1869 in Leipzig, with the critical acclaim from that performance establishing Brahms’ reputation as a major international composer. The requiem itself is considered a masterpiece of symmetry. The first and last movements are choruses with textual similarities, providing unity to the work. The second movement is a funeral march, and is balanced by the triumphal music of the resurrection in the sixth movement. A baritone solo of the third movement is balanced by the soprano solo of the fifth. The pinnacle of the work, the lyrical fourth movement chorus (frequently translated into English as “How lovely are thy dwellings”) serves as a transition from grief of the first three movements to consolation offered in the final three movements. Musically, Brahms uses a three note motive throughout the work (a major third followed by a semi-tone), adapting and transforming it. Brahms also uses and adapts a chorale-like melody in several places, the first being in the orchestral accompaniment at the beginning of the requiem, with the violas playing the chorale melody that is similar to that found in Bach’s Cantata No. 27. This “Human” Requiem transcends time and language to bring comfort and consolation to those who grieve. It continues to be as moving as it was when Brahms wrote it. And, it is one of the great choral works of all time.

Season Underwriters Patrons Members (cont.) Friends (cont.) The Nebraska Arts Council, a Conant Fund state agency, has supported Lincoln Community $250 to $499 $100 to $249 $1 to $99 this series through its matching grants program funded by the Foundation Catherine Corbet Jack McKimmy Sarah Gauger & Charles Nebraska Legislature, the National Nebraska Arts Council Richard & Lois Dam Robert McMaster & Duerschner Endowment for the Arts and the Ruth Marie Amen Jim Hejduk Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Robert Hinrichs Maureen Ose Jeanne Giles Visit www.nebraskaartscouncil. Performing Arts Fund James & Christi Keim Jane & Duane Mehrens Susan Goodrich org for information on how the First-Plymouth Church Lorraine Beadell-Love Ariel Merivil Juliana Hagemeier Nebraska Arts Council can assist Joan & Jon Michelsen Robert & Venita Marilyn & Robert Hansen your organization, or how you can Orchestra Concert C. Richard Morris Shaun Harner support the Nebraska Cultural Sponsors $10,000 Barbara & Benjamin Mittelstaedt Gary & Sheryl Harrington Union Bank & Trust Carolyn Nickel Phil & Barbara Heckman Endowment. Rader Lowell & Jane Nickolaus Jason & Loretta Hellmuth Full Concert Alan & Patricia Riggins Victoria O’Neal Kathleen Helzer Memorial in Loving Memory of Mark Wallace Wolff Sponors $5,000 Jeremy & Stacy Spale Ann Parr Jennifer Hendrickson Dr. Ray & Carolyn Zeisset Donald Peder David Henske In Honor of Frank & Ann Sidles John Casey Frederick & Margaret Jason Horner celebrating their 60th Anniversary Ann & Matthew Finkner Members James Johnson Rhonda S. Seacrest Rickers Susan Klein Christina & Thomas Wiegner Susan Sehnert Stuart $100 to $249 Russ Roberts D.L. Loy Charles, Ilse, Charlie & Addie Sidles Tom Trenney & Brent Shaw Kurt & Carly Runestad Rosemary Machacek Anonymous Kim & John Salistean Jack McKimmy F. Barton Sidles II Partial Concert N.Dwain & Virginia Acker Linda Shriner Joseph Meduna Sponsors $2,500 Bob & Barbara Bartle Jay & Dottie Steinacher Stephanie Meredith 2018-2019 Levick Legacy Society Contributors Cherie Bayley Ronald & Camilla Carol Meyer Sally & Roger Buchholz Linda Schwartzkopf James & Kathryn Bellman Steve Meysing John Casey & Michael Fultz The Plymouth Brass Svoboda James & Karen Miller James Hejduk Scott Bulfinch Arlyn Uhrmacher Judy Miller Loretta & Jason Hellmuth Lorraine Lau Margaret Campbell Bruce Wendorff Chad & Cindy Mohr Rosemary Machacek The Collins Family Randy & Norma Coleman Margaret & Terry Bartle Gayle Morin Laurel Muff Jennifer Davidson George Wolf Camie Nitzel Conductor's Circle Mike & Diane Dinnel Dennis & Linda Zabel Julie Nordlee Barbara & Benjamin Rader Julia Doerr Gina Paul Neal & Lois Thomas $1,000+ Drew & Nick Duncan Friends June Ryan Paul Dunn Jeanette Schneckloth Karin & Bryan Van Deun Phyllis Owen Sinda Dux $1 to $99 Audrey Schneider Mary Fischer Peter & Viann Schroeder Benefactors Gordon & Maril Freese Anonymous Ed Schulenberg Marynelle Greene Dorothy Anderson Hannah Smith $500 to $999 Kim Hachiya Karen Bacon Marjorie Snodgrass Michael Hale Amanda & Scott Barker Klyda Steele Joe & Jeanette Adams Elaine Hammer Lora Black Tom & Beverly Trenney Anonymous DeLynn & Esther Hay Robert & Lynette Boyce Laura Uridil Sally & Roger Buchholz John Heineman Charlene L Brown Karin & Bryan Van Deun Charles & Mary Ann Erickson James Hewitt Marlo Burg Glenda Ward David & Linda Gardels Michael Jensen David & Pat Crews Susan Weber Margaret Johnson Duane & Carol Jones Dave & Danelle DeBoer Kenneth Winston Susan Jacobs Johnson Con & Barbara Keating Steve & Sara Delair Amy Wright Ed & Mary Lyons Ronald & Judy Kirsch Robert & Pamela Duncan Virginia Wright Wynn & Sheila Mehlhaff Richard & Sally Knudsen Christine Duncan Barbara Zach Frank & Lois Mills Alan & Jacqueline Jessica Dussault Laurel Muff Jenny Ekeler Dedication to Frank Mattingly Brett Epperson Sandra & Richard Sandi Fabry & Ann Sidles John Foote Frank & Ann Sidles Maxwell Lee Foster Neal & Lois Thomas Janet Gauger Arlene & Denny Van Horn