Oratorio Chorale

‘Sing We Noel’ celebrates third year

Tue, 12/19/2017 - 4:30pm

    The Oratorio Chorale, under the baton of Emily Isaacson, brought a new Christmas gift to the Midcoast with “Sing We Noel,” performed on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 15 and 16, at St. Paul’s in Brunswick.

    In addition to sing-along holiday favorites, the Chorale presented selections from “Messiah,” which it sang in November, and works from the Faure Requiem and works of Robert Kyr, both of which will be part of the late winter performance in February. In addition, the women’s small  choir, The Sweetest in the Gale, performed a lovely folk song, “Saro,” about lovers parted due to family interference. The choir’s spring performance will be held in April.

    A few new holiday pieces also made an appearance. A haunting version of “I wonder as I wander,” an Appalachian folk carol, and other carols from other parts of the world – a Hodie from the Netherlands; Verleih uns Frieden, by Mendelssohn; and the arrangement of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” by Arthur Sullivan – he of the “Very Model of a Modern Major General” fame – changed up the holiday offerings enough to keep them fresh, but familiar enough to keep the audience singing and connected.

    Children – even small children – were welcomed and made a part of the performance, by helping to “deck the halls.”

    As always, Isaacson’s choreography – there is truly no other word for it – delighted the eye as well as the ear.

    If you have never heard “Sing We Noel,” make sure you mark your 2018 calendar now. “Sing We Noel” is a terrific annual addition to anyone’s holiday repertoire.