Lincoln Arts Festival is delighted to present the Lincoln Festival Chorus, for its 43rd season, in two performances of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Coronation Mass.” Artistic Director Linda Blanchard is very well-known in the Boothbay area, leading several choral groups. She has a varied background in theatrical and orchestral directing and is also a church organist and choir director. Assistant Director Sean Fleming is one of Maine’s most sought-after keyboard artists and has presented piano and organ recitals throughout the country. Professional soloists include Soprano, Mary Sullivan; Alto, Jenna Guiggey; Tenor, David Myers-Wakeman; and Bass, John David Adams.

According to the Aylesbury Choral Society, none of the sacred works that Mozart composed in Salzburg is as popular as the Mass in C (Coronation Mass). In 1779, Mozart accepted a position in the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg, providing the mass for the Easter service of April of that year. The Archbishop preferred a musical form that suggested a “Solemn Mass,” but the length of a “Short Mass” (not to exceed three-
quarters of an hour) – a work with great ceremony, but one that was compact in structure.

By the 1800s, the mass was already known as the “Coronation Mass” (out of the popular belief that it was written for the annual anniversary of the crowning of the Shrine of the Virgin). The more likely explanation for the name is that the Mass was one of the works performed during the coronation of Leopold II (Aug. 1791) or of Francis I (Aug. 1792) in Prague. The music is certainly celebratory in nature and would have been appropriate either for a coronation or Easter Day service.

During the Mass, the soloists are continually employed either as a quartet, in pairs, or in solo lines that contrast with the larger sound of the choir. Watch for the central hushed section of the Credo; also, when the Hosanna section of the Benedictus is well under way the quartet begins the piece again, seemingly in the wrong place!

The mood changes with the second half of the concert. It begins with a medley of oldies Hit Parade favorites, including “Blue Skies,” “In the Still of the Night,” and “Mr. Sandman. Then follows two Platters hits, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and “The Great Pretender,” which feature the inimitable David Myers-Wakeman (arranged by Sean Fleming!). The concert concludes with the rollicking Duke Ellington hit, “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”

Performances will be Friday, Aug. 18 and Sunday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor. Tickets, $25, are available online at lincolnartsfestival.org or at Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Boothbay Harbor. They may also be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to each performance.