CCS Holiday Concerts At St Rose Church—

‘Carol Symphony’ To Receive Connecticut

Premiere This Weekend In Newtown

James Bassi’s Carol Symphony was commissioned by Johnson Flucker and the Choir of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City and was premiered during the choir’s 1996 Christmas season. The 100-voice Connecticut Choral Society will proudly to present the work’s Connecticut premiere during its holiday concerts this year, on Friday, December 15, at 8 pm, and Sunday, December 17, at 4 pm.

Performances of “Psalms And Carols — A Holiday Celebration” will be at St Rose of Lima Church, 46 Church Hill Road in Newtown. Mr Bassi plans to be in attendance for this weekend’s concerts.

“The two outer movements of Carol Symphony are free and rhapsodic in character,” explained James Bassi. “The opening movement, ‘Bells,’ takes as its source material the Ukrainian ‘Carol of the Bells.’

“The middle movement, ‘Hymn,’ is a fairly strophic, verse-by-verse setting of ‘Wexford Carol,’ an Irish melody. This tune has an unusually contemporary flavor, with a striking ascending seventh,” continued the composer. “Wexford Carol” has been recorded for choir and organ with Judy Collins as soloist. CCS alto Cheryl Lichtenstein, of Brookfield, will be featured as the soloist for the Wexford section of Mr Bassi’s composition this weekend.

“The final movement, ‘Dance,’ develops lively rhythmic variations on the English tune ‘Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day,’” added Mr Bassi. “The orchestra even gets a chance to dance, in a bright and athletic toccata section.

“To sum up, I have tried to do a little bit of what Dvorak did in his New World Symphony: to take folk material and transform it in dimension and scope, while preserving its essential beauty and simplicity,” Mr Bassi concluded.

James Bassi writes in a variety of genres. His works include song cycles, choral and orchestral works, piano music, chamber works, and musical theater works.  He received NEA and Meet-the-Composer grants as composer-in-residence with Western Wind Ensemble, and for them wrote the a cappella suite love, war, and politics.

The Voices of Ascension and the New York Virtuoso Singers, among others, have also performed Mr Bassi’s choral works. Mr Bassi and his lyricist, Richard Lollo, are completing a musical based on Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust, which will receive a staged reading at York Theatre Company next season.  He is also currently working on his first film score.

“Psalms And Carols” will also include Monteverdi’s Magnificat, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (to be sung in Hebrew), and a rousing program conclusion of traditional carols with a candlelight procession.

Tickets are $18 if purchased at the door or $15 if reserved in advance, and also for seniors and youth. Group rates are available. Call 800/555-5250 for more information.