Chattanooga Bach Choir: Music for the Lenten Season

The Chattanooga Bach Choir, David Long artistic director, continues its Barnett & Company Cantata Series with Music for the Lenten Season on Sunday, February 18 at 4:00 p.m., at Christ Church Episcopal (663 Douglas Street, Chattanooga). Admission is $15; Students are free. For more information, visit www.chattanoogabachchoir.org.

The program features George Frideric Handel’s Chandos Anthem, No. 3 “Have Mercy on Me, O God” (Psalm 51); Heinrich Isaac’s Lenten motet Scapulis suis (Psalm 91:4-5); and Dietrich Buxtehude’s Canzonetta in D minor for organ. Joining the Bach Choir and Orchestra are guest soloists Maria Rist, soprano; James Harr, tenor; and Karla Fowkes, organ.

David Long notes, “Anticipating our performance of Handel’s oratorio Messiah in April, we are presenting one of his Chandos Anthems, settings of Psalm texts written in 1717-18 for the 1st Duke of Chandos and performed in his private chapel. Chandos Anthem No. 3 takes its text from Psalm 51, “Have Mercy on Me,” which is commonly read in the season of Lent. A multi-movement work similar to a cantata, Anthem No. 3 features soprano and tenor soloists, chorus and chamber orchestra. Though written for a smaller group of singers and instrumentalists, these works are conceived on a grand scale and display what Beethoven praised as Handel’s ability to achieve “great effects with simple means.”