Portland Choir & Orchestra's video: Backstage with Portland Choir Orchestra Episode 6: It s all Greek to me

In this episode we perform some of the most beautiful music ever written—each sung in a language other than English, and discuss the benefits and challenges of singing in a foreign language. We play a short excerpt of each in performance. If you wish to watch the full-length performance (and you should!) we have included a link to each below. 01:21 Gaudete. Often performed at Christmastime, this 16th century sacred choral piece is always sung in Latin. Why is that? We don’t sing Silent Night in German, so why is Gaudete always sung in Latin? Tune in to hear our analysis. Full length performance can be found here: https://youtu.be/CeYZxM2tup0 09:35 Lux Aurumque. A hauntingly beautiful a cappella piece by one of America’s pre-eminent choral composers, Eric Whitacre, Lux Aurumque was written about 20 years ago. The text is a poem written in English then translated to Latin. Why would a composer do that? Tune in to find out. Full length performance can be found here: https://youtu.be/Q-qWBfZTGEo 15:26 Strannoye Rozhdestvo Vidievshe. Portland Choir & Orchestra Artistic Director Dr. David Thomas and I discuss this liturgical piece, sung in Church Slavonic, including the challenges of Slavonic pronunciation and David’s Doctorate that he earned at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia. Full length performance can be found here: https://youtu.be/t1QvJOB94R8 29:14 Betelehemu. Always a crowd-pleaser, Betelehemu is sung in the Nigerian Yorobu language and gives the choir a chance to engage in some on-stage choreography. Full length performance can be found here: https://youtu.be/kQH8lM_G4Fo 32:16 Jubilate Deo. We end this episode with a modern sacred piece, written just 5 years ago, that is sung in 6 languages. It takes the text of Psalm 100 and sings it in 7 movements, each in a different language: Latin, Mandarin, Spanish, Zulu, Hebrew and Arabic. Full length performance can be found here: https://youtu.be/DbI_uOI7sno