Adolphus Hailstork’s Sonata da Chiesa
This week’s Audio Flashback is Sonata da Chiesa by Rochester, New York-born composer Adolphus Hailstork, who celebrates his 80th birthday this week. In his concert notes, Bard music professor Kyle Gann says, “The 17th-century term ‘sonata da chiesa’ denoted instrumental chamber music suitable for religious meditation; Hailstork has expanded on the concept to give us an orchestral analogue to a choral Mass. The piece’s seven sections, played without pause, have titles taken from liturgical music: Exultate, O Magnum Mysterium, Adoro, Jubilate, Agnus Dei, Dona Nobis Pacem, Exultate (reprise).”
TŌN performed this work outdoors with conductor Zachary Schwartzman on September 12, 2020 as part of the “Out of the Silence” festival, presented with the Bard Music Festival and the Fisher Center at Bard. You can read Kyle Gann’s full concert notes by clicking here.