“A MUSICAL THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION” PRESENTED BY OSNJ Nov. 17

Thanksgiving in America is, of course, a time to give thanks, in whatever fashion one desires. Oratorio Society of New Jersey presents two sacred works with the principal themes of thanks and praise, Saturday, Nov. 17, 8 pm at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Montclair.

OSNJ Music Director Sandor Szabo leads soloists, chorus and orchestra in Bach’s Cantata No. 79, “Gott der Herr ist Sonn and Schild” (Our God is Sun and Shield), and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise) for the opening concert of OSNJ’s 66th season. The concert will begin with Bach’s Overture from the Orchestral Suite No. 1.

Bach famously penned 200 cantatas for use in services of his churches. Many of them were written for the choir he directed in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, a major center of music in Europe then and now.

Bach composed the cantata in his third year as Thomaskantor (musical director of the church) for Reformation Day services in October 1725. The cantata includes Bach’s magnificent setting of the Martin Rinckart hymn, which has since become a standard for Reformation Day, Nun danket alle Gott (Now thank we all our God).

Within a few decades of Bach’s death, Felix Mendelssohn took over musical duties at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, where he was the principal force behind a revival of Bach’s sacred music, while at the same time composing many of his own sacred works.

Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, a “symphony-cantata on words of the Holy Bible, for soloists, chorus and orchestra,” op. 52, was written in 1840 for the 400th anniversary celebration of the invention of printing by Gutenberg. Following Mendelssohn’s untimely early death, the work was published as his Symphony No. 2, although it is best known now as one of his major sacred vocal works.

Advance tickets for the Nov. 17 concert are $25 and can be ordered in advance from www.oratoriosocietynj.org. Tickets at the door are $30, where students with ID may purchase tickets at half price. Music at Immaculate offers free parking in the lot accessible from Munn Street between Park St. and North Fullerton Ave.

OSNJ Music Director and Conductor Dr. Sandor Szabo has led OSNJ in numerous performances of major choral works since his appointment in 2005 as the fourth music director of the OSNJ. A truly international musician, he maintains a full schedule as conductor, organist, pianist, vocal coach and arranger, with appearances throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. Dr. Szabo was educated in Yugoslavia, receiving degrees in music from the University of Sovi Sad, and the University of Music Arts in Belgrade. From 1983 until his immigration to Canada in 1988, he performed as a pianist, taught piano at universities in Yugoslavia, and served as assistant conductor and accompanist at the Serbian National Opera Theatre. In Canada he was founder and conductor of the Guelph Sinfonietta and Coro Culturale di Italia in Ontario.

Oratorio Society of New Jersey is an amateur ensemble dedicated to performing major works of the Western classical choral repertoire, from the Baroque era to the current century. Based in Montclair, choir members reside throughout northern New Jersey. OSNJ performs twice yearly as part of the Music at Immaculate Series in Montclair and presents an annual Community Messiah Sing in December. Recordings of numerous performances of OSNJ can be heard on the website www.oratoriosocietynj.org, and are also available on CD.

Further information about the 2018-19 season, and about membership in the choir is available at www.oratoriosocietynj.org

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