The Arkansas Northeastern College Chamber Singers will present music they have prepared over the past few months at 3 p.m. today in the Adams/Vines Recital Hall on the ANC campus in Blytheville.
The program, "Madrigals, Partsongs & Other Nonsense" combines a variety of music representing various time periods and styles. Traditional madrigals such as Thomas Morely's "Now is the Month of Maying" and "April is in My Mistress' Face" are compared with modern settings of the same text by American composer George Mabry. Heartfelt love songs like Emilio Sole's "Nadie me Salvara" are juxtaposed with the P.D.Q. Bach madrigal spoof, "My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth." The repertoire spans five centuries and includes five languages (English, Spanish, Latin, German and Italian), but all the while retains a light-hearted quality that's intended to entertain and educate.
Performers in the nine-voice volunteer group range in ages from 20-60, and all participate in other performing groups at ANC as well as other choirs in the area. The performance is free.
Additional selections the program will include are "O Occhi, Manza Mia" by Orlando di Lasso, "Old Horatius had a Farm" (yes, that farm, but in Latin) by Z. Randall Stroope, "Flower of Beauty" by John Clements, "When Daffodils Begin to Peer" with text from Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" and set to music by Matthew Harris, "Die Nachtigall" by Felix Mendelssohn and "Short People" by Randy Newman, among others.