Crescendo presents holiday concerts in Great Barrington and Lakeville

Crescendo, the award-winning music organization of the Berkshires, presents several concerts this holiday season, including A Tapestry of Traditions: Unraveling the History of Christmas Carols and A Baroque Portrait: Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre.

A Tapestry of Traditions explores the history of holiday carols. The Crescendo Chorus and Vocal Ensemble, accompanied and directed by Christine Gevert at the organ, will trace the origins and development of carols and Christmas songs, their evolution over centuries and their adaptation across cultures.

“Song and dance were very important at the ancient winter solstice celebrations of the Northern Hemisphere,” said Gevert. “While we don’t have the original music from these festivities, modern poets and composers have written about this dark time of the year when we yearn for hope, joy and symbolically search for light.”

The program starts with a winter solstice piece that superimposes a secular poem, sung by one choir, with a Latin Christmas prayer, sung by a second choir, accompanied by handbells.

“The Romans celebrated the feast of Saturnalia in a very similar way to what we do for Christmas. We present a piece that portrays the spirit of Saturnalia — something you don’t get to hear very often. The rest of the program features carols and holiday songs that are mostly familiar, in traditional settings, with modern arrangements for chorus, organ, bells and percussion. Audience members will be invited to join in singing some of them.”

The concert will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 21, at Saint James Place in Great Barrington.

Crescendo will close out the year with a New Year’s solo recital of music by French composer Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, one of the few prominent female composers of her era. The concert will include sonatas for solo violin and basso continuo and the “Suite in D Minor” for harpsichord, complemented by “Caprices” for solo violin by Louis-Gabriel Guillemain. Edson Scheid will perform on Baroque violin, with Gevert on harpsichord.

Regarding A Baroque Portrait, Gevert said, “Jacquet de La Guerre was a Baroque composer, harpsichordist and organist, and the first woman to compose an opera in France. A musical prodigy, she made her debut as a singer and harpsichordist at the court of Louis XIV at a very young age. She later became his protégé and court musician, something unusual for a woman in those times. The harpsichord piece on our program is from her collection published in 1687, noteworthy especially because publication of harpsichord music was still rare in France in the 17th century, even for male composers.”

These concerts will take place at 4 p.m. Dec. 27 at Saint James Place, and at 4 p.m. Dec. 28 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.

Both venues are historic buildings that enrich the performances acoustically and visually.

Tickets are available at crescendomusic.org and on a first-come, first-served basis at the door beginning 45 minutes before each concert.

Support for the concerts is provided by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts through funding from the Connecticut Legislature, with additional support from NBT Bank and WMNR Fine Arts Radio.