Celebrate Through Music the Building of a More Perfect Union
Schiller Institute Concert
Houston, Texas
February 13, 2016
Video Playlist
-----------------------------
Welcome & Introduction 0:00
Star Spangled Banner 5:59
Lift Every Voice and Sing 10:58
Jesu, Meine Freude - Est Ist Nun Nicht 15:02
You May Bury Me In De Eas' 20:00
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 22:24
Soon Ah Will Be Done 25:49
I Am Thinking of a City Called Heaven 30:18
When I Was Sinkin Down 34:27
Ain't That a Witness 38:50
Deep River 42:06
Go Down, Moses 45:13
Balm In Gilead 48:48
Program in PDF format
On Building A More Perfect Union...
As the namesake of the Schiller Institute, the German poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller, said, “It is through beauty that one proceeds to freedom.” Only truly great art can pierce through the walls built up by cynical experience and ennoble our souls with the sweet language of beauty. Great music speaks to the better angels of our nature. This is why we sing, and why you are invited to join our community chorus.
Today’s concert overlaps Presidents’ Day weekend, the Chinese New Year, and Black History Month. We dedicate today’s proceedings to three immortal figures from these theaters of history who devoted their lives to the united cause of human freedom: President Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, and Frederick Douglass. President Abraham Lincoln embodied Agape, the “strength to love.” He gave his all so that his nation, “Shall have a new birth of freedom.” Frederick Douglass, former slave and towering intellect, joined Lincoln: “Right is of no sex, truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.” Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, the father of modern China, adopted Lincoln’s principle, “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from this Earth,” as the basis of his own Three Principles, and inspired the rebuilding of his nation.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen taught us, “The revival of ancient classical learning is equal in importance to the regeneration of old moral values.” Throughout history, enslaved peoples have used song to fan the embers of their humanity, as they sought to attain freedom. This was as true for the slave of the southern plantation system as it is for anyone. Singing kept these people alive spiritually, and became also a code for when and how to escape slavery, as well as an inspiration to future generations. Following Emancipation by President Abraham Lincoln, the Negro spirituals were written down and arranged into an uniquely American form of Classical music, through a collaboration among Czech composer Antonin Dvorák and musicians such as Harry Burleigh, Hall Johnson, and Roland Hayes. These early Classical spirituals speak to the solemn and sacred quality within us all, that cannot be enslaved.
MUSICAL OFFERING
The Star Spangled Banner
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Selections from BWV 227 (see translation) J.S. Bach
You May Bury Me in de Eas’
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Hall Johnson
Soon Ah Will Be Done William L. Dawson
City Called Heaven Hall Johnson
When I Was Sinkin’ Down Arr. by Hall Johnson
Witness Arr. by Hall Johnson
Deep River Arr. by Hall Johnson
Go Down Moses Arr. by Harry T. Burleigh
|
Chorus
Chorus
Chorus Chorus
Joe Jennings, Evelyn Lantz, Piano
Kesha Rogers Evelyn Lantz, Piano
Chorus
Kesha Rogers
Chorus
Dorceal Duckens
Chorus
Dorceal Duckens Marsha Bowen, Piano |
Francis Scott Key, arr. by U.S. Army 
James Weldon Johnson 
Jesu, Meine Freude 
Est Ist Nun Nichts 
Harry T. Burleigh
CHORUS
Maestro
Dorceal Duckens
Soprano
Marsha Bowen, Jacqueline Carpenter, Connie Carr, Sylvia Spaniolo
Alto
Evelyn Lantz, Nina Peropoulos, Kesha Rogers
Tenor
Brian Lantz, Ian Overton, Peter Peropoulos
Bass
Michael Carr, Joel Dejean, Joe Jennings, Jared McCaskill
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Harley Schlanger, Vice Chair, Schiller Institute, USA
BWV 227 TRANSLATION
Jesu, meine Freude meines Herzens Weide,
Ach wie lang! ach lange ist dem Herzen bange, und verlangt nach dir! Gottes Lamm, mein Bräutigam, außer dir soll mir auf Erden nichts sonst liebers werden. (Romans 8:1) Es ist nun nichts Verdammliches an denen, die in Christo Jesu sind, die nicht nach dem Fleische wandeln, sondern nach dem Geist. |
Jesus, my joy, my heart’s pasture,
Oh, how long! How long has this anxious heart yearned for you! Lamb of God, my bridegroom, apart from you, nothing other on Earth shall become more dear to me.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [back to program] |
CONDUCTOR - DORCEAL DUCKENS
 |
Dorceal Duckens has directed the chorus of the Texas chapter of the Schiller Institute for over 15 years. In this capacity he has taught the bel canto technique of singing to hundreds of people. Dorceal graduated from Prarie View A&M University with a B.A. in Vocal Performance, and an M.A. in Music Education. He has had major roles with the Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera, Michigan Opera, Texas Opera Theater, and Ebony Opera Guild, where he is a founding and charter member. Notable performances include Count Monterone, Sparafucile, and Rigoletto in Rigoletto; Marcello, and Coline in La Boheme; Papageno in The Magic Flute; Figaro in
The Marriage of Figaro; Don Giovanni in Don Giovanni; Dr. Bartolo in the Barber of Seville, and others. Mr. Duckens has helped preserve and continue the Classical musical tradition through his participation in numerous music festivals and conferences, including at the Spoletto Fesitval, in Spoletto, Italy with composer Gian Carlo Menotti; the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio, Texas; the Schiller Institute conference to “Save the African-American Spiritual” at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas; and as the bass soloist in Mozart’s Requiem honoring the 50th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy, in Vienna, Virginia. Mr. Duckens says, all that he has, all that he hopes to be, and all you will hear from him today, is due to the grace of God.
A NOTE ON OUR TUNING
Since 1988, the Schiller Institute has organized a world wide campaign to restore the proper scientific tuning pitch of the Classical composers from J.S. Bach through Johannes Brahms of C = 256 Hz (A = 432 Hz), established as law by the Italian opera composer and senator, Giuseppe Verdi. Today’s performance (as with all Schiller Institute musical performances) will be done at the proper scientific tuning, instead of the arbitrarily high “modern” tuning of A = 440 Hz. This allows the natural, full beauty of each vocal register to present itself, instead of abusing the voice for theatrical purposes.
LEARN TO SING BEAUTIFULLY!
You are invited to join this chorus! The Schiller Institute Community Chorus rehearses at the Lansdale Community Center (8201 Roos Rd. Houston, TX 77036) on Tuesdays from 6pm-8pm. People without prior singing experience are asked to arrive for group lessons in bel canto technique and solfege at 6pm. Rehearsal begins at 6:30. If you are interested, please leave your contact info in the card included with this program, or call Brian at (713) 830-9049.
