Our 42nd Season  |  Creation and Coronation

November 3–4, 2012: Duruflé’s Requiem
Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs
Like Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé left the terrifying “Dies Irae” movement out of his 1947 Requiem. It is a requiem that tends toward contemplation and consolation. Other works include Daniel Pinkham’s Wedding Cantata, and Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs, a setting of five poems by his wife, Hila Plitmann.

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012, St. Mary’s Church, Bristol
3:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, Providence
More about the concert

December 8, 2012: George Frideric Handel’s Messiah
Two and a half centuries after its first performance, Handel’s Messiah easily remains the most frequently performed, most beloved work in the choral canon. The Providence Singers and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra join forces for a December performance at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Betsy Burleigh conducts.

7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012, The Vets, Providence

February 10, 2013: Franz Joseph Haydn’s Creation
Haydn had spectacular choral triumphs late in his life, none greater than the oratorio The Creation. The Singers and the New Bedford Symphony will perform The Creation in New Bedford and Providence.

4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, at Temple Emanu-El in Providence
(Also performed Saturday, Feb. 9, in New Bedford. More at New Bedford Symphony)

April 6-7, 2013: Fit for a Queen
Music was everywhere at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953: selections from England’s glorious musical past (Handel’s Zadok the Priest has been part of every coronation since George II in 1727) and new works by Herbert Howells, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Healy Willan and others. The Singers will perform music written for Queen Elizabeth at her coronation and during the six decades since, including new music from the recently published Choirbook for the Queen.

7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, 2013, Sayles Hall, Brown University
3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 7, 2013, St. Mary’s Church, Bristol

May 4, 2013: Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 2, the “Resurrection Symphony,” was, with the Eighth Symphony, among Mahler’s most popular and successful works during his lifetime. He was struck by a text he heard at the funeral of the conductor Hans von Bülow: “Auferstehen, ja auferstehen wirst du, mein Staub, nach kurzer Ruhe!” (“You shall arise, my dust, yes you shall arise after a brief rest!”) The Singers will perform as guest artists with the Rhode Island Philharmonic.

8 p.m. Saturday, May 4 The Vets, Providence