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AN OPEN LOVE LETTER TO DAVID FROM HIS CHORAL SOCIETY

March, 4, 2012•

Dear David,

In 1981-82 you, along with Dr. Shirley Fishburne, decided to create a singing group with tilepurpose of "performing choral masterworks with the composer's intended accompaniments".The auditions were a resounding success, the York County Choral Society was born and you,Dr. David Lowry, became its conductor, artistic director, instructor, and guiding spirit.

YCCS is now in it's 31st season and some of us have sung in every one of those concerts,traveled twice to the United Kingdom, to Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, the National Cathedralin Washington, DC, and to numerous concert halls, churches and other venues around theregion. All of it arranged and led by you. We have learned and sung some of the world's mostglorious music with organ, piano or orchestral accompaniment, all directed by you.

Some of us arrived later but were made to feel welcome and included by your gracious smileand warm words. We learned to rely on your judgment, your musical knowledge, and yournever faltering baton. Wehave learned and have sung some of the world's most glorious musicwith organ, piano or orchestral accompaniment. You taught us the heart and soul of the musicalong with the notes.

We learned to "listen up" when you reprimanded us for not counting, for wrong notes, and mostespecially for talking during rehearsal time. We went home and listened to our rehearsal tapesover and over as you said we should. We arrived on time, sat in our assigned seats, stood upfor untold hours; sang the same phrases for what seemed a million times until we got it the wayyou wanted it. We complained about it all but loved every minute. You taught us what it takesto make truly good music. And making truly good music is the most soul satisfying rewardpossible.

And now, you are retiring. Your last concert with us will be The Defiant Requiem performanceof the Verdi in Columbia on April 15th. We know it is time for you to retire. We knowtraveling from Columbia and back is tiring. We know you need some much deserved rest. Weknow all the reasons why, but we also know how much you have meant to us, how much youhave done for us and how much you will be missed.

The York County Choral Society will continue under new direction but it will always reflect thespirit of its co-founder. You showered us with your many God given gifts for 31 years. Wewant you to know how very grateful we are.

Our love and thanks,YorkCounty Choral Society

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YORK COUNTY CHORAL SOCIETYDAVID LOWRY, CONDUCTOR

SUSAN READ, ACCOMPANIST AND VOCAL COACH

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 20I2 - 4:00 P.M.UNITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, FORT MILL

KRISTEN WUNDERLICH, SOPRANOERIC KESLER, BARITONE

SUSAN READ AND PATSY SURRATT, PIANO

PROGRAM

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Organ Chorale Prelude Johannes Brahms (1833-r897)HERZLICH TUTMICH VERLANGEN, OP.I22

Following the organwork, the audience and chorus will stand and singHymn 98 in The Presbyterian Hymnal.

A GERMAN RE~IEM, OP.45

Blessed are they that mourn

Behold, all flesh is as the grass

Brahms

Lord, make me to know the measure of my days on earthMR. KESLER

How lovely is thy dwellingplace

Ye now are sorrowfulMs. WUNDERLICH

Here on earth have we no continuingplaceMR. KESLER

Blessed are the dead which in the Lord die

ENGLISH TEXTS ToA GERMAN RE~IEM

I. Matthew 5:..1-; Psalm I26:5-6Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have comfort. They that sow in tears shall reap in •

joy. Who goeth forth and weepeth, and bearethprecious seed,shall doubtless return with rejoicing, andbring his sheaves with him.

II. I Peter I:24;J ames 5:7; I Peter I:25; Isaiah 35:IOBehold, all flesh is as the grass, and all the goodliness of man is as theflower of grass;for 10, the

grass with'reth and the flower thereof decayeth. Now therefore bepatient, 0 my brethren, unto thecoming of Christ. See how the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath longpatience for it, until he receive the early rain and the latter rain. So beye patient. The redeemed of theLord shall return again, and comerejoicin_sunto Zion; gladness,joy everlasting upon their heads shall betheir portion, and tears and sighing shallflee from them.

III. Psabn39:5-8; Wisdom of Solomon jrrLord, make me to know the measure of my days on earth, to consider my frailty that I must

perish. Surely all my days here are as an handbreadth to thee, and my lifetime is as naught to thee.Verily, mankind walketh in a vain show, and their best state is vanity. Man passeth away like ashadow, he is disquieted in vain, he beapetb up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them. NowLord, 0what do I wait for? My hope is in thee. But the righteous soulsare in the hand of God, norpainnorgriefshall nigh them come.

IV. Psalm 84:2,3,5How lovely is thy dwellingplace, 0Lord of hosts!For my soul, it longeth, yea,fainteth for the

courts of the Lord,· my soul and body crietb out, yea, for the living God. Blessed are they that dwellwithin thy house;theypraise thy name evermore!

V.John I6:22; Ecclesiasticus 5I:35; Isaiah 66:I3Ye now are sorrowful, although ye shall again behold me, and your heart shall bejoyful, and

your joy no man taketh from you. Yea, I will comfort you, as one whom his own mother comforteth.Look upon me;ye know that jor a little time labor and sorrow were mine, but at the last I have foundcomfort.

VI. Hebrews I3:I4; I Corinthians I5;5I-55; Revelation to J ohn 4:IIHere on earth have we no continuing place, although we seek one to come.Lo, I unfold unto you

a mystery. We shall not all sleep when he cometh, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in thetwinkling of an eye, at the sound of the trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall beraised incorruptible, and all we shall be changed. Then what of old was written, the same shall bebrought topass. For death shall beswallowed in victory! Grave, where is thy triumph? Death, 0whereis they sting? Worthy art thou to bepraised, Lord of honor and might, for thou has earth and heavencreated, andfor thy goodpleasure all things have their being and were created.

VII. Revelation to J ohn I4:I3Blessedare the dead which in the Lord die,from henceforth. Saitb the spirit, that they restfrom

their labors, and that their works follow after them.

ARTISTS

Kristen Wunderlich, soprano, is Assistant Professor of Voice at Winthrop University.She has taught previously at The Pennsylvania State University, Luther College,WaldorfCollege and the University of Texas at Arlington. At the University of North Texas,Denton, she received the degree Master of Music in Vocal Performance in 2001 and wasawarded a Doctor of MusicalArts degree in Vocal Performance with an emphasis in VocalPedagogyin 2008. She has appeared with the Denton Bach Society,Dallas's Orchestra ofNew Spain,the Texas Chamber Artists, and a performance of Pergolesi'sStabat Mater in theCzech Republic. Dr. Wunderlich sang in the YCCS performance of Handel's Messiah in2008, and in our 30thanniversaryperformance of Verdi'sRequiem.

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Eric Kesler, baritone, holds the degreesMaster of Music in Performance and Bachelorof Music Education from Appalachian State University.He is currently pursuing the degreeDoctor of MusicalArts from the University of South Carolina, and is an adjunct professorof voice at Coker College, Hartsville. Mr. Kesler has performed in several venuesthroughout the Eastern US and Rome, Italy. He wasmost recently seen in the USC Schoolof Music opera production of Friedrich von Flotow'sMartha in the role of Plunkett. Kesleris the voice instructor for the annual Windswept Music Conference and holds advancedlevel teaching certificates from the Creative Motion Alliance as well as serving on theexecutiveboard. This isMr. Kesler's second appearancewith the YCCS,havingappeared in2009 as soloist in Faure'sRequiem.

Patsy Orr Surratt, piano, is the Director of Music here at Unity Presbyterian Church,where she has been since 1995.She not only servesas organist, but also directs three choirsand is responsible for two handbell choirs. She is a graduate of Winthrop University inpiano pedagogy, a former public school music teacher and currently has a large class ofprivate piano students. She recently completed a three-year certification program with theChoristers Guild Institute. She studied organ with David Lowry and has appeared on theCharlotte AGO SummerRecital Series.

Susan Eichelberger Read, piano, received two degrees in vocal performance from theCincinnati College-Conservatoryof Music. For 25years she made a singingcareer in opera,oratorio and solo recitals. Sincemovingto Rock Hill in 1991,she has held organist positionsat Chester A.R.P. Church and currently at Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church. She alsomaintains a voice-teaching studio. This is her eighteenth season as accompanist and vocalcoach for the YCCS.

David Lowry, conductor, is the co-founder of the York County Choral Society. He isProfessor of Music Emeritus at Winthrop Universitywhere he has been the principal organprofessor since 1965. He currently is the Parish Musician of The Church of the GoodShepherd (Episcopal)in Columbia and a music reviewerfor Columbia'sFree Times. For someyearshe was the Organist and Choirmaster of Rock Hill's EpiscopalChurch of Our Saviour.He has been a leader in the Charlotte and Columbia chapters of the American Guild ofOrganists and is a past president of the Association of AnglicanMusicians. He was also aprincipal figure in the development of the Royal School of Church Music in America, forwhich he received the award HonRSCM in the United Kingdom. He is a graduate ofBaldwin-WallaceCollege,Union Theological Seminaryand the University of North Texas.With trumpeter Michael Miller he is organist for the ProOrgano CD Breaking Ground. Inthe 31years leading the YCCS, he has conducted many major works and led the chorus intwo tours in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The YCCS has sung concerts inLancaster,York, Chester, Charleston, Dillon, Raleighand Fort Mill. In 2007 the YCCSwasin residence at the National Cathedral in Washington for three Choral Evensongsand oneSundayEucharist.

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Today's concert features the work of Johannes Brahms who was born in 1833 in Hamburgand died at age 63 in 1897 in Vienna. To begin today's concert, we offer a chorale prelude fromBrahms' Opus 122, a group of elevenchorale preludes for organ,written shortly before his death. Hiscreative endeavor was clearly based on his knowledge of Bach's chorale preludes. This being theseason of Lent, it seems appropriate to choose the work based on the Passion Chorale Herzlich tutmich verlangen found in The Presbyterian Hymnal to the text "0 sacred head nowwounded." For themany visitors to Unity church's newworship space, it is a moment to experience the joys of a fineorgan and a fine acousticalenvironment.

The phenomenon of Johannes Brahms as one of the most important composers in thehistory of music goes without controversy. The personality and social stance of Brahms havetempted the curiosity of many, especiallyin respect to what stimulated the extraordinary treasure ofhis musicalcomposition.

Among the curiositieswere his intense relationship with Clara Wieck (Robert Schumann'swife) as well as other women later in life; his political stance in the music world against the"decadence" of Richard Wagner's music and of Wagner's following;his less-than-cordial manner;and his formativeyears (no choice of his) livingin a brothel. These outer visibilities, as is often thecase,have little to dowith what goes on inside the man himself.

It is frequently remarked how "classical"his expression of music is. He looked to thestrengths of music from the Renaissance to Bach and Handel, and to Beethoven, yet at the sametime was a student and a master of late 19th century chromatic harmonies. He seemed toacknowledgethe fact that Beethoven himself paved the road to Romanticism in music.He idolizedthe works of Beethoven.

Brahms abhorred the concept of writing instrumental music with a "program."We usuallyfind his expressionsto be succinct, but not pithy; deeplyfelt, but not maudlin;warm in color but notdistorted.

As far as we can determine, Brahms rarely darkened the door of a church. Liturgy,theological expostulation, corporate worship, and community were not part of what Brahms' mindor faith required. Yet throughout his life he kept his grandmother's Bible (the German Lutherantranslation), reading it continually.

It was in 1854 (at age 21) that he sketched the second movement, shortly after his friendRobert Schumann's attempted suicide.The majority of the remainder was composed in 1865 (at age32).The fifth movementwas added after the officialpremiere in 1868 (at age35).

It was from his grandmother's Bible that he drew the remarkable compilation of texts forBin Deutsches Requiem (AGerman Requiem), clearlynot intended for the liturgicalmass of the dead,but for the comfort of the living.By choosing this totally Biblical route, the work transcends anyliturgicalpurpose that can be claimedby the Catholics or the Protestants. Brahms said that the titleof the work might better be titled "AHuman Requiem,"but chose "German" simplyto indicate thelanguage used (not Latin). The mix of Old and New Testament verses leaves interpretation oftheology entirelyup to the listener. As one observesfrom the BibleversesBrahms selected, there areno verses citing the Christian belief inJesus as savior.

Despite his disdain for "program" one must recognize that Brahms set these texts withenormous theological sensitivity with a type of word painting--or "subject" painting. There areveiled musical references to funeral marches; bold "engraved-in-stone"words of the pr~hets andapostles; lyricalreferences to heaven and joy;fugalexpositions for redemption; the use of orte ratherthan piano for "blessed [happy} are the dead." These are not accidents, but deli erate andmarvelouslycrafted attempts to convey the strength and comfort of the Biblical texts through thepower and mysteryof musicalexpression.

Many have remarked that God has often sought to speak through the work of those whomay not measure up to standards imposed by other persons. SurelyBrahms' music is one of theextraordinaryvehiclesthat God chooses to use.

The accompaniment for today's performance is totally authentic. Remember that before the20 th century the onlywaymanyworks were heard or inspected was from a manuscript, and it wassomewhat common practice that orchestral workswere reduced to a score that could be playedon apiano. Brahms reduced the score to a piano duet and showed it to Clara Schumannon Christmas of1866. It was that reduction that was used in the first British performance in 1871 in the Londonhome of Sir Henry Thompson and LadyKate Loder Thompson (a pianist),where no orchestra waspossible. Lady Thompson and Cipriani Potter were the pianists. And that performance was inEnglish!

PROGRAM NOTE

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DavidLowry

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YCCS PATRONS 20II-20I2

Patron $50-$99Bill and Sara CastilloTom and Judy CowellJim and Barbara CrookCarmen and Jurgen Meyer-CurioFaye A. DanielMary Gene HardinLura HollerSusan KellyMildred S. LaneDaniel R. LawsonLouise C. LesslieWayne and Nina LynchLarry and Evie RichardsGerry and Barbara SchapiroElizabeth and Earl Wilcox

Pat and Mickey JohnsonMargaret A. TiceTamra and Ed West •

Associate Member $IOO-I49AnnP.AdamsL.D. BartelAnnF. CodyPage and Carolyn ConnellyIan and Nancy DavidsonChris and Angela FischesserMr. and Mrs. Sam Guza

Sponsor-ing Member $I50 - $249William DavisBetty H. SalmondDick and Frances SteinCurtis and Bettye Rawls

Sustaining Member ~b50-$499Doris Thomas Browder(In memory of William J.Blough to whom theyeeS meant hours ofpleasure)Frances and Michael DavisShirley and Coty FishburneMartha and Toby HaynsworthBill and Priscilla JenningsJane G. Murray

Performers Circle $500- $999Martha and Dave Cowan

Directors Circle $IOOO +Dr. and Mrs. James Welsh

YCCS SINGERS

Soprano Lil Adickes, Glenna Boaman, Linda Caines, Sara Castillo, Martha Cowan,Judy Cowell, Lura Holler, Jeannie James, Pat Johnson, Euolinda Logan, AileenMcGowan, Anna Mittower, Mary Moss, Bettye Rawls, Gayle Sawyer, Laura Shrum,Frances Stein, Linda Sutton, Jean Thompson

Alto Ann Adams, Ann Cody, Faye Daniel, Susan Kelly, Nina Lynch, Teresa Mittower,MaryAnn Moore, Betty Salmond, Karen Sells, Delores Tune

Tenor John Arant, Bradley Brown, Jeff Culp, Chris Fischesser, James Glenn, EvelynHarper, Priscilla Jennings, Dan Lawson, John McCulloch, Don Moe, George Sawyer,Jim Welsh

Bass Dwight Benson, Mike Boaman, Bill Castillo, Page Connelly, Dave Cowan, MichaelDavis, William Davis, RalphJohnson, Fred Langford, Tim Moe, Larry Richards, HarryTune, Al Ward, Carrot Williams

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSOakland Baptist Church, Rock Hill; Unity Presbyterian Church, Fort Mill; FirstPresbyterian Church, Rock Hill; Regal Graphics; Martha Geissler; Patsy Surratt

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YORK COUNTY CHORAL SOCIETY REPERTORY

Albright A Song to DavidBach Cantata I47Bach MagnificatBach Mass in B minorBach St. John PassionBernstein Chichester PsalmsBrahms A German RequiemBrahms Liebeslieder WaltzerBritten Ceremony of CarolsBrittenRljoice in the LambBritten St. NicholasDurufle RequiemFaure RequiemHandel MessiahHaydn The Creation"Higginson RequiemHonegger King DavidMendelssohn Elijah

•MAJOR WORKS OVER31 YEARS

Mozart Coronation MassMozart Grand Mass in CminorMozart Missa Brevis in DMozart RequiemMozart VespersOrff Carmina BuranaPoulenc GloriaSchubert Mass in GStravinsky Symphony of PsalmsThompson PeaceableKingdomVaughan Williams Dona nobispacemVaughan Williams Five Mystical PsalmsVerdi Requiem"Vieira Seven Last Words of

Christ on the CrossVivaldi Gloria*Wiley Columbus: Dream to Reality

(*denotesAmerican premieres)

PLUS MANY SMALLER WORKS BYCOMPOSERS FROMTHE 16TH TO THE 21sT CENTURIES

BachBertalotBieblBrahmsBrittenBrucknerCohenConteCoplandDarkeDavisonDawsonDurufleFaureFosterGawthrop

George-WarrenGermanGershwinGibbonsGoreckiGreenbergGreeneHadleyHailstorkHancockHandelHarrisonHoganHoukomIves

PinkhamPostonRoremRutterSchubertShawSowerbyStaheliStanfordTavenerBruce ThompsonRandall ThompsonVaughanWilliamsDavidA.WhiteNicholas WhiteWyton

KernLauridsonLeightonLewisLowryMacMillanMendelssohnMozartMulhollandNeswickParkerParkerParryPartPhillips

The YCCSis an affiliate of the Arts Council of York County.

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THE YCCS REVISITS THE VERDIRE~IEM

THIS TIME IN THE NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CONCERT EVENT CALLED

Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Teresin •Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.

The Koger Center, Greene and Assembly Streets, Columbia, SC

This full performance of Verdi's Requiem Mass includes actors and historic Terezin film andinterviewswith original chorus members related the full, impassioned story ofwhy these Jewishprisoners, who faced death everyday,chose to learn and perform the Verdi Requiem during theirdarkest hours.

Sixty-eightyears ago,Verdi's Requiem was performed in the Teresienstadt Naziconcentration camp outside of Prague. There are a precious few survivors,some ofwhom havespoken to audiences of Defiant Requiem. There is one that sang in the chorus; another was in theaudience, alongwith members of the visiting Red Cross and the Gestapo elite, including thearchitect of the holocaust, Adolph Eichman.

"When you are starving, the only thing that remains iswhat goes on in your head," FrederickTerna explained.

"We became part of the Requiem; it was life giving,"saidMarianka May.Teresienstadt wasa Potemkin village,designed to give the Red Cross and the world the impression that Jews werebeingwell-treated.

Like allpropaganda, some of it was true. The campwas unique in that it permitted theprisoners - largelyartists, writers, composers and musicians - the freedom of artistic expression, afterthey worked twelvehours a day and experienced starvation. What was not evident at theperformance in Teresienstadt was that the chorus members had to continually be replaced as theywere shipped off to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

The irony that this powerful religiouswork waswritten byVerdi, an agnostic, as a Catholicmass,performed byJews in a Nazi concentration camp,was not lost.

One of the survivorsnoted, "The Nazis thought, 'These dumbJews, they do not know theyare singingtheir ownRequiem.' The Jews thought, 'We were singingtheir Requiem, and they didnot know it. '"

When prisoners sang, "When the wicked have been confounded, doomed to the devouringflames,"they must have felt that justice would one day triumph.

And it did. The redemptive power of music has rarely been portrayed with such terror andbeauty aswith the performance of Verdi's Requiem, both then and now. Sixty-eightyears ago, thechorus was hungry, sick and dressed in rags.There was only a rickety piano.

The performance in which YCCSwill participate includes both choruses of the University ofSouth Carolina, LarryWyatt and AliciaWalker, directors, and the Mars Hill CollegeChamberChoir, Joel Reed, director. The soloists are facultymembers ofUSC: Tina Stallard, soprano;JanetHopkins, alto; Walter Cuttino, tenor;Jacob Will, bass. The orchestra is the USC SymphonyOrchestra, Donald Portnoy, director.

Murry Sidlin, the founder and director of the Defiant Requiem Foundation in Washington,D.C., conducts the production.

Advance tickets may be purchased by phone from Capitoltickets.com or at 1-803-251-2222.

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