“Holiday Brass & Choral Concerts”- Music of the Baroque reviewed by Julia W. Rath

***** The Music of the Baroque chorus and brass ensemble, conducted with confidence and sensitivity by Nicholas Kraemer, has made the season all the more splendid with its annual Christmas concert, which took place at four different churches on successive days in late December 2025.

One of the most stunning highlights of the program was “Coventry Carol”, anonymously written around 1591 in English, featuring a nice blend of four soloists Rachel Sparrow (soprano), Margaret Fox (alto), Samuel Rosner (tenor), and Ian Morris (bass), who stand together in the right aisle and seemingly address the larger chorus. The same four are also highlighted in a rendition of “In dulci jublio”, written in English and Latin by Robert Lucas Pearsall, which follows the original version, sung in German and Latin from the “Geistliche Lieder” a collection of hymns in 1545.

This is one example of how the concert was anchored by several different variations of the same hymns. Most notably we hear iterations of “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland.”, all sung in German. The original version is Plainchant” (or plainsong), from the second Lutheran hymnal from 1524. After an organ interlude (Stephen Alltop), this was immediately followed by a significant change in music and lyrics by Michael Praetorius, while respective variations by Johann Sebastian Bach and Samuel Scheidt can be found in the second half of the program. Bach’s version was from Cantata BWV 36, “Schwingt freudig euch empor” and included soprano and alto soloists, together with the organ (Alltop) and cello (Anna Stenhoff). There was also Bach’s (1736) harmonization of Scheidt’s 1650 chorale melody “O Jesulein süss, o Jesulein mild,” based on a Christmas poem originally written by Scheidt’s contemporary Valentin Thilo. Another musical comparison was made in the second half between Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s “Adoramus te, Christe” and Claudio Monteverdi’s “Adoramus te, Christe 6.”

The program also featured brass instruments, starting with “Capriccioso á 2 cornetti” by Johann Vierdanck, with duettists Barbara Butler and Scott Quackenbush walking up the main aisle to announce the performance, followed by the chorus members entering the church in the right and left aisles. Similar excitement was generated at the top of the second half, with Lodovico da Viadana’s “Sinfonia “La Bergamasca” and its brass players being highlighted (Butler, Quackenbush, Alex Schwarz, Jennifer Marrotta, Mark Lawrence, Jay Evans, Randall Hawes, and Jared Rodin).

As in prior years, my favorite part of the concert was the rendition of “Te Dei, laudamus.” The composition begins when three bell ringers (Susan Nelson, Michael St. Peter, and Ian Morris) introduce a call-and-response chant in Latin, with the higher voices standing in the right aisle and the lower voices standing in the left aisle. What was different this year was that the church did not dim the lights at the start of the composition. In the past, chorus members carried electronic candles as they walked through the aisles, which added a veil of mystery to the music. Today, while some singers were carrying choir books, most carried tablets. Perhaps the switch to (lighted) tablets made it unlikely for them to hold candles as well. But going from the light into the darkness and then from the darkness into the light was, for me, a surreal experience which was now absent.

While chorus director Andrew Megill has done a marvelous job with all the perfectly harmonized vocalists, what was prominent was his novel arrangement of “Ding Dong! merrily on high”, sung as a round with clever changes to the arrangement. His tweaks, in my view, were meant to be light-hearted if not also funny. There was also a brief departure from the traditional religious music. Included was the secular song “Tappster, dryngker” (anonymous from the 15th century), sung in Early Modern English and featuring a bass drum and a tambourine.

Another pleasure was watching the ensemble reconfigure itself between compositions. Sometimes this was done during an organ prelude or postlude. At other times, the brass ensemble filled transitions and kept the repertoire moving without interruption. These interludes included “Dances from Terpsichore” by Praetorius, “Sonata from Sonate et Canzoni” by Giovanni Battista Buonamente, and several instrumentals by Giovanni Gabrieli, including “Canzon septimi toni á 8” and “Sonata XIII.” The audience was asked to hold their applause during the course of the program with the exception of right after Gabrieli’s “Omnes gentes plaudite” during the second half. Needless to say, the applause were vigorous after Praetorius’s “Quem pastores laudavere”, which ended the first half of the concert, and also at the conclusion of the program, which showcased his “Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen” and the chorus’s lovely harmony.

The program made clear how profoundly late Renaissance and early Baroque music continues to shape composers across centuries—and how its themes of blossoming, renewal, and spiritual reflection still resonate today. This two-hour concert contained many standout moments, and I was grateful to be in the audience to hear all of them!

Music of the Baroque’s Holiday Brass & Choral Concerts took place at these dates, times, and venues:

7:30 p.m., Thursday, December 18, at Grace Lutheran Church, 7300 Division St., River Forest, IL
7:30 p.m., Friday, December 19, at St. Michael Church, 1633 N Cleveland Ave., Chicago
2:00 p.m., Saturday, December20, at Saints Faith, Hope, & Charity Church, 191 Linden St., Winnetka, IL
2:00 p.m., Sunday, December 21, at Alice Millar Chapel, Northwestern University, 1870 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, IL

For more information about future performances of MOB and to learn about their annual Holiday Brass & Choral Concerts plus ticket prices, please go to: https://www.baroque.org/ or call 312-551-1414.