‘Magnificat’

A fitting beginning to the Christmas season and story is the performance of the “Magnificat” by Schola Cantorum of Waynesboro.

Schola will open the holiday season using the music written by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach for its concert Nov. 23 at First Baptist Church in Waynesboro. Maureen Drumheller, who directs the performance, said the other classical works on the program are related to Mary’s life and role in Christian history.

Carl Philip Emmanuel (1714-1788), Johann Sebastian Bach’s second son, acted as a kind of bridge between baroque music and the more restrained classical period that followed, Drumheller said. She credits the younger Bach with keeping the memory of his father – who died in relative obscurity – alive.

Johann also wrote music for the “Magnificat,” as did many musicians through the centuries following the rise of Christianity, and Drumheller said you can see traces of the father’s version in the son’s.

“It just stands to reason,” she said, “since his father trained him, that there would be similarities.” In particular, Drumheller mentions the final chorus with an extended amen as referring back to his father’s work.

Carl Phillip Emanuel had a powerful patron in Germany’s Frederick the Great, and there’s a great deal of Protestant church music in his 900 or so vocal and instrumental works. He spent quite a bit of his lifetime unearthing and publishing his father’s work. He wasn’t alone in this – some of his brothers and sisters, and his father’s widow, sold Johann’s work to make ends meet.

Drumheller said the son’s version of the “Magnificat” had an impact on classical musicians who followed.

“Mozart used one of the musical themes in a requiem,” she said.

The music written for some of the passages in the Bible was important in musical history, Drumheller said.

“These passages were repeated over and over as part of the liturgy through the year. The words were pretty much the same, so new music was written to keep the service interesting.”

Schola Cantorum – literally, the “school for singers” — was organized in Waynesboro in 1996.

“Our mission is to educate ourselves both musically and historically,” Drumheller said. “We strive to maintain a very high level of music.” At the same time, she said, she tries to pick programs that are audience-friendly – that are at least somewhat familiar to music lovers.

It’s a year-round labor of love for Drumheller, a veteran musician who has taught music, sung in regional productions and directed church choirs. Not only does she choose the program and try to find low-cost ways to buy the sheet music, but she also puts together an orchestra that’s well-matched to the music she picks and recruits singers for roles that can’t be filled by the general membership.

Usually, she said, she meets with a contractor who assembles an orchestra based on her particular needs. She’s also recruited some accomplished soloists from James Madison University’s music department for the Nov. 23 program.

Each performance has its own unique challenges as well as the ones common to all. The upcoming performance has lines in Russian as well as Latin, and there’s some a cappella singing.

Drumheller points out that the hugely accomplished performing groups – the Waynesboro Choral Society, the Waynesboro Orchestra and the Waynesboro Players — all draw from the region’s pool of performers and musicians.

“You don’t have to be classically trained to sing in Schola,” she said. “But you do have to have a certain type of voice and to have an interest in the classics.”

She also noted that it’s an unusual community – especially one as small as Waynesboro – that supports this level of performing arts.

“We’re drawing from a small base,” she said. “Most of our members are right here in town, although some come from Staunton and Augusta County.”

Many of the patrons of Waynesboro’s cultural groups hail from the heyday of General Electric and DuPont, Drumheller said. “They were people who wanted to raise their children in an atmosphere where the arts were appreciated.” 

So far, public support for the group has been substantial. Each performance costs about $6,000 to stage, and Schola has been able to raise this amount through generous donations and a pancake breakfast during the annual Fall Foliage Festival Art Show.

From time to time, Schola stages a light-hearted “Schola unplugged” performance for major donors, where the singers have a chance to clown around a bit. Drumheller also credits the churches, where both rehearsals and performances are staged, for their generosity.

“We try to give them a little bit,” she said, “but they never ask for anything.”

Admission to Schola Cantorum performances are by donation.

Schola will perform “Magnificat” and other selections by Britten, Hairston, Mozart, Lauridsen and Rachmaninoff at 3 p.m. Nov. 23 at First Baptist Church, Wayne Avenue at 11th Street.