Lycoming College Chamber Choir

Palm Sunday, April 1, 2007

On Palm Sunday, the Lycoming College Chamber Choir performed several pieces for the St. Mark's congregation. The performance was a spectacular start to Holy Week.

The Choir, under the direction of St. Mark's member Dr. Fred Thayer, sang the Chichester Psalms at the start of the service.  The Psalms and the first movement in particular are noted among performers for their musical difficulty, with the opening section of the first movement often considered one of the hardest passages for choral tenors ever written.

Richard Lakey, St. Mark's Minister of Music accompanied.

During the communion meal, the Agnus Dei was performed.  Based upon John the Baptist's reference in John 1:29 to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the text in Latin is: 

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.  Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem. 

Translation: Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.