The world renowned Vienna Choir Boys visited
Trevecca Nazarene University on Thursday and performed at Trevecca Community
Church on the school’s campus. It was literally a thrill to see a near
capacity crowd for this ‘once in a lifetime’ performance inspite of the winter
weather and dangerously cold temperatures.
The concert began with the first of three
segments . The first was of the worship
genre which to me was a pleasant surprise.
Selections included ‘Laudate pueri,’
translated ‘Praise the Lord’, composed by Felix
Mendelssohn and Psalm 13,
penned by JoHannes Brahms.
The second part of the program was called
Schubertiade. The entire set was music
written by Franz Schubert. The last selection of
the set, ‘Trinklied’, the favorite of
the choir, ended the dramatic portion of the
concert. During this segment, the choir
boys portrayed a group of youngsters having a
party which allowed them to forget
about the cares of the world. This was quite
humorous and entertaining. The Vienna
boys also showed that they had potential in the
field of acting. How they mingled and
conversed with each other while singing was done
with such flair that the audience
was giving them its undivided attention.
Following intermission, the Vienna Choir Boys
were at their best performing incredibly
beautiful renditions of Mozart’s, ‘Piu non si
trovano’, and ‘ Due pupille amabile’. They
also sang the John Newton penned national
favorite hymn ‘Amazing Grace’. What a
wonderful and inspiring moment. That was
defintely A highlight if not THE highlight of the evening.
The nearly two hour concert concluded with a
couple of polkas/waltzes composed
by JoHann Strauss, Jr.
The Vienna Choir Boys have been blessed beyond
measure with God-given voices
that sound like a choir of angels sent from
heaven.
A Brief Bio
The Vienna Choir Boys were formed in 1498, half a
millennium ago. For four
centuries, the choir sang exclusively for the
emperor and his court – at masses
in the Imperial Chapel , at private concerts and
on state occasions.
The Vienna choir has worked with notable
musicians Heinrich Isaac, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, and Franz Schubert just to name a
few. Schubert was a
choir boy himself.
Today, there are four touring choirs totaling
some 100 members ranging 10 to 14
years of age. They have toured all over Europe,
Asia, Australia as well as the U.S.
and Canada.
The Vienna Choir Boys repertoire spans five
centuries of music, from Renaissance
to Contemporary. This includes works by Leonard
Bernstein and Aaron Copland.
In 2000, the choir performed in Japan, China, and
Germany with an opera by
Gerald Wirth called ‘The Little Prince’.
The choir’s music is featured on the movie
soundtracks of Primal Fear and The 13th
Floor. A couple of years ago, they sang Mozart’s
Coronation Mass at St. Peter’s
in the Vatican.
The choir boys do not go uneducated. They receive
a musical and general education
in a school all their own. They attend the
Augartenpalais a barouque place in Vienna
where 250 children live, study, and rehearse. The
school offers a variety of sports
like baseball, rollerblading, and swimming and
they are allowed to attend concerts,
operas, plays, musicals, and even movies.
All alumni continue to be involved in the arts,
many of whom are professional musicians,
conductors, singers or instrumentalists, in
Vienna and around the globe.
The Vienna Choir Boys are a private,
non-for-profit organization which finances
itself mainly through concerts and recordings.
