MUSIC

It’s an incredible true story. A composition, created in 1694, languishes for centuries in the archives of Westminster Abbey and the Central Library of Zürich. Thanks to the enterprising editorial work of musicologist Pyrros Bamichas, Psalmi ad Vesperas (1694) by Italian composer Giovanni Paolo Colonna is now available to modern performers and will, in fact, receive its United States premiere by the Houston Chamber Choir under the direction of Robert Simpson.

The Vespers was written in the last year of Colonna’s life for a grand festival at the Basilica of St. Petronio in Bologna. Colonna’s contemporaries called him “the Orpheus of our century,” and the very fact that copies of the Vespers traveled to England and Switzerland attests to its popularity.

Robert Simpson, Founder and Artistic Director of the internationally recognized Houston Chamber Choir said, “It is a rare privilege to bring this long forgotten masterpiece to light. A brilliant team of soloists and baroque instrumentalists assembled from around the country will be joining the Chamber Choir and me for the performance and the world premiere recording which will follow. I am grateful for the opportunity, once again, to collaborate with noted music scholar Dr. Anne Schnoebelen in this exciting project.” Dr. Schnoebelen served as the “connector” of the Vespers composition, which was posted on the Web by Bamichas on a 17th century music forum, of which Schnoebelen is an active member. She encouraged Simpson to download and explore the composition, which will culminate with its premiere later this month.

Dr. Schnoebelen, the artistic advisor for this concert has spent her career studying Italian sacred music of the 17th century and she is recognized as the world’s foremost authority on the music of Colonna. She served as musical advisor to Robert Simpson in the Houston Chamber Choir’s performance of Messa a Nove Voci Concertata con Stomenti (Mass for Nine Concerted Voices with Instruments) by Colonna for the Choir’s 15th Anniversary Season finale, Venetian Vespers and continues her collaboration with the Choir on Psalmi ad Vesperas (1694).

Houston’s renowned professional ensemble, Houston Chamber Choir, performs Psalmi ad Vesperas (1694) Giovanni Paola Colonna on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 7:30 pm at St. Philip Presbyterian Church, located at 4807 San Felipe, Houston, TX 77056.

Pictured:  Robert Simpson and the Houston Chamber Choir. Jeff Grass Photography (detail above, full image below).