Program Notes Archives - Toronto Mendelssohn Choir https://www.tmchoir.org/category/media/program-notes/ Canada’s Choir for 130 Years Thu, 15 Jan 2026 20:49:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Loud Enough to Wake the Dead: Reflections on Brahms’ Requiem https://www.tmchoir.org/loud-enough-to-wake-the-dead-reflections-on-brahms-requiem/ Tue, 21 Oct 2025 16:34:21 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=14097 By Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence Usually, when I get to write to you, it’s in my capacity as the Choir’s musicologist-in-residence. However, I’m choosing to largely take off my musicologist hat,...

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]]> Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis Program Notes https://www.tmchoir.org/beethovens-missa-solemnis-program-notes/ Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:18:33 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=13504 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. “From the heart—may it return—to the heart.” After four years of compositional work, these are the words Ludwig van Beethoven inscribed on...

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]]> Visionaries: Vivaldi & Da Vinci Program Notes https://www.tmchoir.org/visionaries-vivaldi-davinci-program-notes/ Wed, 22 Jan 2025 21:50:07 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=13293 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. At a glance and on the surface, there might seem to be little in common between Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, Renaissance artist...

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]]> Festival of Carols Program Notes 2024 https://www.tmchoir.org/festival-of-carols-program-notes-2024/ Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:04:23 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=13196 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. Welcome to the 25th annual Festival of Carols! A beloved holiday tradition in Toronto that is now a quarter-century old, the Festival...

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]]> The Love Affair: Waltz & Tango Program Notes https://www.tmchoir.org/love-affair-program-notes/ Wed, 30 Oct 2024 20:33:24 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=13005 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. The central pieces of tonight’s program—Brahms’s Liebeslieder Wälzer and Palmeri’s Misatango—are both inspired by dance forms associated with romantic love. However, the...

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]]> Verdi Program Notes https://www.tmchoir.org/verdi-program-notes/ Thu, 18 Apr 2024 15:16:26 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=12142 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. After the 1871 Cairo premiere of his opera Aida, Giuseppe Verdi announced his retirement from opera composition. While he would eventually renege...

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]]> Winterreise Program Notes https://www.tmchoir.org/winterreise-program-notes/ Tue, 13 Feb 2024 16:30:41 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=11998 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. From the mid-eighteenth-century through to the end of the nineteenth, numerous German-speaking writers (the most famous among them including Goethe and Heine)...

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]]> Festival of Carols Program Notes 2023 https://www.tmchoir.org/foc-program-notes-2023/ Mon, 13 Nov 2023 19:36:10 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=11798 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence. Welcome to the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir’s 2023 Festival of Carols! A December tradition for the choir for many years, the Festival of...

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]]> Carmina Burana Program Notes 2023 https://www.tmchoir.org/carmina-program-notes-2023/ Thu, 28 Sep 2023 17:12:31 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=11606 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence.   Carmina Burana opens with epic music and astute commentary: “O Fortune, like the moon, you are changeable, ever waxing and waning.”...

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]]> In Time Program Notes https://www.tmchoir.org/in-time-program-notes/ Thu, 07 Sep 2023 19:24:52 +0000 https://www.tmchoir.org/?p=11583 The program notes are written by Rena Roussin, Musicologist-in-Residence.   Welcome to the Toronto Mendelssohn Singers’ opening concert of the 2023-2024 season! This  season begins with a collaboration in musical and...

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