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Join The Esoterics for Distler centennial concerts

Born in Nuremberg on 24 June 1908, Hugo Distler attended Leipzig Conservatory, where he studied piano, conducting, composition, and organ. He served as an organist in Lübeck, and taught in Spandau before his appointment as professor of church music in Stuttgart. A profoundly religious man, Distler found himself caught in the crossfire during the escalation of World War II; he was only 25 when Hitler came to power. Driven by devotion that was far too progressive for the German traditionalism of his day, Distler composed, quite simply, the wrong music at the wrong time. Replete with spiritual fervor that was not tolerated by the Nazis, Distler's music was eventually labeled "degenerate art." As a conscientious objector who was under the constant threat of conscription into the German army, Distler grew increasingly disillusioned and depressed.

On 1 November 1942, the pressure became too much for the 34-year-old composer to bear. While his wife and children were out for a walk, Hugo Distler took his own life. Distler's tragic story ended with an ironic footnote: on the following day, the letter arrived that would have exempted him from military service. Although his life was shorter than that of Mozart and he wrote in a far more hostile climate, Hugo Distler was a prolific and pioneering choral composer. His virtuosic choral brilliance is exemplified in Geistliche Chormusik (Op 12), his collection of nine sacred motets composed between 1935 and 1941.

This month, The Esoterics will perform all nine of these candidly quirky choral pieces, including Distler's renowned Totentanz (Dance of Death), which features brief flute interludes and twelve spoken monologues representing different members of German society (e.g., emperor, hermit, farmer) as they respond to death's final call. Not only do these nine motets breathe new life into the four-square tunes of the German Reformation, they are also delightfully challenging for singers, with spirited syncopation, intricate melismata, and pentatonic polyphony found on almost every page of the score.

The Esoterics' performances of Distler's work will also be a moving tribute Guenther Woerne, the pioneering Seattle baker, who passed away in January. Woerne was not only a was a vital member of The Esoterics' community (and father to soprano Maria Drury); The Esoterics have dedicated the Distler centennial concerts to his memory.

Please join The Esoterics to celebrate the life and work of this master choral composer.

NOTE: Dates of the Distler centennial concerts have changed since the 2008 Season Announcements

The Esoterics' Distler performance dates and locations are as follows:

Saturday • 21 June • 8 pm • Tacoma
Trinity Lutheran Church • 12115 Park Ave S

Sunday • 22 June • 7 pm • Lynnwood
Trinity Lutheran Church • 6215 196th St SW

Saturday • 28 June • 8 pm • West Seattle
Holy Rosary Catholic Church • 4139 42nd Ave SW

Sunday • 29 June • 3 pm • Seattle
Queen Anne Christian Church • 1316 3rd Ave W

Tickets are $20 at the door, $18 in advance, $15 for students, seniors, the un(der)employed, and the differently-abled. Discounts are available for groups of five or more at $12 per person. Active singers of any choral group may attend for only $10. Advance tickets are available online at www.TheEsoterics.org (through PayPal.com), or reserved by phone at 206.935.7779.

The Esoterics' Season 2008 has been made possible by grants from 4 Culture, ArtsFund, Artist Trust, Classical King FM 98.1, The Horizons Foundation, Meet the Composer, Nikko Media Center, The Norcliffe Foundation, The Nesholm Family Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, The Seattle Foundation, Seattle's Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs and The Washington State Arts Commission.

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