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The Village Sings – August 3, 1994 | St. John's Church, Elora, ON
The history of a small Ontario town in song

date: August 3, 1994

We were commissioned by the Elora Festival to produce a programme depicting the history of the town from the early nineteenth century.  In the concert’s first half, narrative extracts from contemporary sources carried us through the first 150 years or so.  The framework of the second half was provided by a specially written piece of doggerel which we entitled “The Ballad of Elora”; it told the more recent history of the town and drew on the personalities chiefly responsible for the establishment of the Festival.  By far the bulk of the music performed was by Canadian composers.  The concert ended in grand style with Adams’s “The Holy City”, sung by soloists, choir and audience (who had been expertly rehearsed by the conductor at the end of the intermission).

Song Artist Composer Poet
Oh! can you leave your native land? – A Canadian Song Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Scottish folksong Moodie, Susanna
An die Natur, D372 Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Schubert, Franz Stolberg, Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Stolberg-
Our old Canadian home Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Woodlawn, C.P. anon.
Scots wha hae wi’ Wallace bled (Three Burns Songs) Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Scottish folksong, arr. Beckwith, John Burns, Robert
Ae fond kiss (Three Burns Songs) Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Scottish folksong, arr. Beckwith, John Burns, Robert
Auld lang syne (Three Burns Songs) Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Scottish folksong, arr. Beckwith, John Burns, Robert
The Water Mill (Four Poems by Fredegond Shove) Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano Vaughan Williams, Ralph Shove, Fredegond
The Canadian Sleigh Song Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Russell, Henry Mackay, Charles
Brilliant Contredanse and Polka Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Strathy, George n/a
Grenadier Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Morawetz, Oskar Housman, Alfred Edward
Ma, I miss your apple pie Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Lombardo, Carmen / Loeb, John Jacob Lombardo, Carmen / Loeb, John Jacob
When your boy comes back to you Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Thompson, Gordon V. Thompson, Gordon V.
Oh! can you leave your native land? – A Canadian Song (Contrasts) Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Holman, Derek Moodie, Susanna
My jolly shantyboy – Ontario lumbermen’s song (Contrasts) Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Holman, Derek anon.
Autumn (Contrasts) Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Holman, Derek Scott, Duncan Campbell
This Canada of ours Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano Ridout, Elizabeth Edgar, James
INTERMISSION
Lead, kindly light Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ubukata, Bruce, organ Harriss, Charles A.E. Newman, John Henry
The Volunteer Organist Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen, piano; Ubukata, Bruce, organ Spaulding, George Gray, William B.
The Wings of Song Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Warren, Samuel P. Heine, Heinrich, trans. anon.
On Wings of Steel: Wheeling Song Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen, piano Godfrey, Henry anon.
On the River Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano Rubini, Eduardo “Eleonore”
Old Ontario Braun, Russell, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, arr. MacMillan, Sir Ernest Gibbon, John Murray
The Holy City Vanderhooft, Rosemary, mezzo; Braun, Russell, baritone; Elora Festival Singers; Edison, Noel, conductor; Ralls, Stephen, piano; Ubukata, Bruce, organ   – with audience Adams, Stephen Weatherly, Fred