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Arts & Culture

The Seven Deadly Sins: Music of Britten and Beaser

Saturday evening at Christ Church Cathedral, Grace Song Inc. presents its second concert of the season, “The Seven Deadly Sins.”  Baritone Lee Gregory, pianist Keith Weber, and reader Deborah Burks, perform two rarely heard song cycles, one by Benjamin Britten, the other by American composer Robert Beaser.  They join St.John Flynn in the Geary Studio to talk and sing.
 

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Born in Boston in 1954, Robert Beaser is chair of the composition department at Juilliard.  His song cycle, The Seven Deadly Sins, written in 1984, is settings of seven poems by Anthony Hecht (from his collection titled The Hard Hours).

Likewise, Benjamin Britten’s 1965 cycle, The Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, takes its texts from the late 18th century British poet.  Both cycles are linked by themes of sin and salvation, concepts relevant to the Advent season.

Houston-based baritone Lee Gregory, Grace Song Inc. artistic director and pianist Keith Weber, and English scholar Deborah Burks came in to the Geary Studio to give a preview of Saturday’s recital.

You’ll find more information about Saturday’s recital on the Christ Church website.