In addition to Paul Crabtree’s Tenebræ Responsories, BCE is performing a half-dozen other works from the extensive Tenebræ repertory. Like most examples in this enormous body of music, they are all in Latin, and NB will explore them in more depth this week. To begin, let’s look at the music that come to us from around [...]

We’d love to know what you thought of VILLAROSA. Please consider writing a review on ArtsBoston’s website. Or, if you want, you can comment here. The Boston Choral Ensemble is a member of ArtsBoston, an organization whose mission is to promote the arts in Greater Boston by making the arts accessible, integral to our lives, and [...]

In today’s edition of The Tech (MIT’s oldest and largest newspaper) appears an interview with BCE’s music director, Miguel Felipe, discussing tonight’s Villarosa Sequences premiere. Below is an excerpt of the interview. For the complete article, visit The Tech’s website. The Tech: What would you listen for, as an audience member, when you’re first coming to this [...]

Yesterday in NB, we published audio clips from a telephone conversation between BCE’s music director, Miguel Felipe, and Thomas Jennefelt, the composer of the Villarosa Sequences which the Boston Choral Ensemble will perform during the weekend. In the last post, they discussed Mr. Jennefelt’s musical beginnings and his thoughts on his work. Today, they chat about [...]

With only days before BCE offers Villarosa its first complete performance outside Sweden, NB is pleased to publish a two-part interview with the composer, Mr. Thomas Jennefelt. BCE’s music director, Miguel Felipe, chatted with Mr. Jennefelt from his home in Sweden. Their conversation is presented below. In today’s excerpts they discuss Mr. Jennfelt’s musical background [...]

NB’s seven-week series culminates this week with samples from the final movements of Thomas Jennefelt’s Villarosa Sequences: “Vinamintra elitavi”. And, later this week BCE will present a live performance of the entire work representing the first complete performance outside Sweden. Movement seven, “Vinamintra elitavi”, is the conclusion of the arch of movements. Like movements one, [...]

Working closely with composer Thomas Jennefelt and Gehrmans, publisher of Villarosa Sequences, BCE has been noted on the home page of the publisher and in their quarterly newsletter. To see the blurb on their site, click here. To download and read their newsletter, visit this link (1.8Mb, PDF). In the PDF, be sure to notice the [...]

The Boston Choral Ensemble released the following press release this morning: BOSTON – November 11, 2009 – This November, the Boston Choral Ensemble (BCE) proudly continues its tradition of introducing innovative musical programs to Boston audiences with the North American premiere of Thomas Jennefelt’s complete Villarosa Sequences. Featuring soprano soloist Teresa Wakim, Jennefelt’s rarely performed [...]

As BCE’s enters the final days before the live Villarosa concerts next weekend, the movement-by-movement series continues to movement #6, “Virita criosa”. As the large arch-form of the work approaches its close,“Virita criosa” can be seen as a structural pair to #2, “Saoveri indamflavi”. Just as “Saoveri” was for men, “Virita criosa” is for women’s [...]

With every piece of music there’s a story behind its creation. With Villarosa Sequences, there are seven stories: one for each movement! In the case of “Claviante brilioso” the commissioning ensemble is the Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble and the premiere performance was in Jennefelt’s native land of Sweden. The Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble is led [...]