Centenary Camerata performs Brahms at April 8 concert
SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary’s Camerata choral ensemble presents its spring concert on Saturday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium at the College’s Hurley School of Music. The concert is free and open to the public.
“Camerata will sing two wonderful Romantic-era choral works by the great composer, Johannes Brahms,” says Dr. Cory Wikan, Camerata director. “Both pieces epitomize the genre of choral music written specifically for the burgeoning middle-class amateur musician--essentially, these works were the pop music of 19th-century Vienna.”
The Neueliebeslieder waltzes is the second collection of "love waltzes" Brahms wrote. Setting choral music to a sensational social dance form was a wise entrepreneurial choice: both waltz collections were wildly popular in their day, and they continue to be an important part of the standard classical choral repertoire. The Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy Songs) represent the Romantic-era fascination with all things "exotic." This collection of songs is exciting, vividly depicting contemporary notions of gypsy traditions.
Camerata, founded in 1983, is the primary academic choral ensemble of the Hurley School of Music. This group is dedicated to quality artistic performances of choral repertoire from all historical periods. Members are primarily voice majors, though membership is open to all Centenary students by audition.