Join The Esoterics for OURANIA:
Dreams that reach across the heavens
With OURANIA, the final concert before its 15th anniversary season, The Esoterics will offer a program that highlights the musical extremes of the unaccompanied chorus. From the precise calculations of astronomy and the lavish polyphony of late Romanticism, to the angelic inspiration of Biblical texts, OURANIA will provide several perspectives on how we have come to understand "the heavens."
Among the pieces in this program, two works by The Esoterics’ founder Eric Banks highlight the intersection of mathematics and astronomy with music. The score of his Onomata planêtôn, a choral intonation of the planets and moons in the solar system, is based entirely on the inter-relationships of these heavenly bodies. Banks’ second piece, Tabula siderum zodiaco, draws a similar parallel between music and astronomy, creating an aural star map that superimposes the 12 signs of the zodiac upon the 12 key signatures as well as the 360-degrees of the celestial equator onto the 360 quarter-note beats of the piece.
To further illustrate these connections, The Esoterics will offer a ground-breaking visual component to its performances. In its October concert series (RU’IA), the ensemble debuted its simultaneous super-title projections. For Tabula siderum zodiaco, the super-title screen will display a dynamic celestial map to indicate the astronomical features of his piece.
The remaining pieces in the program will celebrate other heavenly bodies, including the sun, the moon, and sacred visions. In Strauss’ Der abend [Evening], Friedrich von Schiller’s poem describes the journey of Phœbus (Apollo), the Roman god of the sun, as his chariot draws the sun to set before the approaching night. This piece will be paired with Donald Skirvin’s Song of Apollo, which sets of the Homeric hymn to Apollo translated by Percy Bysshe Shelley with radiant sonorities and victorious turns of phrase. The power of the sun is also captured in Triumf att finnas till [Triumph to exist] by Danish composer, Bo Holten, setting a work by Finnish poet Edith Södergran.
The moon has also found its place in The Esoterics’ OURANIA. A second piece by Donald Skirvin sets again the verses of Shelley, who translated the Homeric hymn to Selene, the Greek goddess of the moon.
The final two pieces of OURANIA will focus on “the heavens” as Jacob saw them in his Old Testament vision. German composer Heinrich Poos’ Hypostasis captures the amazement and subsequent devotion that Jacob experienced in his dream of the celestial ladder, replete with angels and the face of God. Paired with Poos’ cantata on Jacob’s ladder will be the second choral tone-poem of Strauss’ Op 34, Hymne. In this setting of Friedrich Rückert’s verse, the heavens join Jacob’s mortal celebration at the return of his prodigal son, with proclamations of celestial ecstasy.
Please join The Esoterics for this multi-faceted celebration of the heavens.
The Esoterics’ OURANIA performance dates and locations are as follows:
Saturday • 1 December • 8 pm • Tacoma
Trinity Lutheran Church • 12115 Park Ave S
Sunday • 2 December • 3 pm • Medina
St Thomas Episcopal Church • 8398 NE 12th St
Saturday • 8 December • 8 pm • Seattle
St Joseph’s Catholic Church • 732 18th Ave E
Sunday • 9 December • 3 pm • West Seattle
Holy Rosary Catholic Church • 4139 42nd Ave SW
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.
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