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Beethoven on Schubert, as remembered by Beethoven’s friend and factotum, Anton Schindler.

“Since the illness of which Beethoven died, after four months of suffering, made his usual mental activity impossible for him, it was necessary to think of things which might distract him and which were in harmony with his intellect. Thus it happened that I submitted to him a collection of Schubert’s songs and melodies, some sixty in all and among them some still in manuscript.

“The great master, who formerly had not known even five Schubert songs, was astonished at their number, and refused to believe that Schubert, up to that time (February 1827), already had written five hundred melodies..."

Rochester, NY - April 27, 2012 - There will be plenty of community pride to celebrate in song in  Rochester Sings! On Thursday, June 7, at the Hochstein Performance Hall at 7:30 P.M., the Rochester Oratorio Society (ROS) and some of its best musical friends mark the centennial of the Community Sings in Rochester, a musical tradition promoting positive values of respect, tolerance and civic pride.

“People are really connected to this tradition,” says ROS Artistic Director Eric Townell. “The last Community Sing took place on June 7, 1912, and it’s this event we intend to restore.” Mayor Tom Richards will be on hand to commemorate the occasion.

Sometime after our concert program for this season was announced, I began perusing the contents of the Rochester Songbook 1910 as posted on the ROS website. I  was intrigued by the various categories of the songs, "Songs of the Genesee," "Songs of Rochester," "Patriotic Songs," and "School and College Songs." A Rochester native and lifelong Monroe County resident, I often find myself trying to understand local history based on what I know about the lives and experiences of family members who also made their home here. 

As self-designated family historian and genealogist, I have a collection of old photos spanning many decades. One favorite among these, taken sometime in the 1890's shows my great-grandparents, grandfather and his siblings sitting in the parlor of their Dansville home, playing instruments and singing together. Another photo taken at a Rochester garment workers’ picnic in the early 1900's attended by my young father and grandfather, depicts musicians holding accordion, violin and banjo, perhaps not only to play and perform for the enjoyment of the large crowd gathered there, but also to accompany those assembled in song. A cousin still remembers her Scottish-English relatives not only playing croquet at their family reunions each summer during the 1950's, but also their making time to sing together.

It is easy for us who sing in a variety of choirs and choral groups to think that the whole world sings, but American recreational and social life has changed considerably since 1910, what with social media, television and modern telecommunications....
If we tried to create a Rochester Songbook today, could we find enough songs from a common and familiar repertoire that are reflective of our community pride and unique Rochester experience?

Rochester, New York - In an unprecedented collaboration, the Rochester Oratorio Society and the School of the Arts will present a concert of great choral classics on Sunday, May 20, 2012, at 2:00 PM, in the Allen Main Stage Theatre at the School of the Arts, 45 Prince Street at University Avenue. Better Together features the SOTA Concert Choir and will benefit the Friends of the School of the Arts and the ROS Endowment Fund. Nocon & Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., is the corporate sponsor for the event.

Works by Schubert, Mozart, Handel and Lauridsen are featured on the program along with contemporary music featuring young artists from SOTA. “The SOTA Concert Choir sounds great, and they have terrific spirit,” notes ROS artistic director Eric Townell. “This is the future for our art form. We hope to see several SOTA alumni among the ranks of the ROS in future years.”   

“The Better Together concert is a wonderful opportunity to work in collaboration,” says John Gabriele, who teaches piano and music theory at SOTA and directs the Concert Choir. “The ROS does great things in this city and we’re happy to be associated with them.”