John Walthausen, the organist and director of music of the First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, will conduct a performance of Arthur Honegger’s oratorio, “King David,” Sunday, April 6, at 3 p.m. The concert will feature the congregation’s Oratorio Choir and Orchestra plus sopranos Laurice Simmons Kennel and Rachel Lipson, mezzo-soprano Tanisha Anderson, and tenor Shaun McGrath. The afternoon’s narrator will be the Rev. Dr. Cheni Khonje.

 Swiss composer Arthur Honegger’s “King David,” in the words of John Walthausen, “is a startingly fresh work of the early 20th century, full of drama and playfulness. Composed in 1921 as incidental music to a play by Rene Morax, this colorful score brings together a small chamber orchestra of 17 players with narration, soloists, and a chorus to tell the dramatic story of David’s rise to defeat Goliath, through his reign as King, to his eventual fall from grace.”

 Walthausen continued, “Honegger is perhaps best known to music lovers as a member of ‘Les Six,’ a group of composers based in Paris who drew particular inspiration from the music of the past (especially the baroque and classical periods but also Gregorian chant and medieval music), and the popular styles of the time, including jazz, café music and musical theater. The style of each of the composers of ‘Les Six’ is urbane and sophisticated while still being fun and approachable.” 

 The other members of “Les Six” were Georges Auric, Louis Durrey, Darius Malhaud, Francis Poulenc and Germaine Tailleferre.

 The First Presbyterian Church in Germantown is located at 35 West Chelten Ave.. For more information visit fpcGermantown.org.

 Piffaro on ‘The Hill’

 Piffaro, Philadelphia’s Renaissance Band, paid homage to a Venetian family of musicians – the Bassanos – in concert the weekend of March 21-23 with a program entitled “All Excellent and Esteemed: The Bassano Family.”

 The local presentation was Saturday evening, March 22, in the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. Piffaro also performed the concert at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Savior in University City and Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Wilmington. in Wilmington.

 The focus of the program was music performed or composed by the extended Venetian family of Bassano. Five of the members were lured to England to become members of the standing band that graced the court of King Henry VIII. Although he may have been the most murderous of all English monarchs, as well as the cause of the split between the Church in England and the Holy Catholic Church of Rome, Henry was a sophisticated lover of music and a noted composer of many beautiful songs. Of course, his most important accomplishment may very well have been fathering the daughter he never wanted – Queen Elizabeth I – assuredly one of England’s greatest rulers.

 Piffaro artistic director Priscilla Herreid assembled one of the finest programs I’ve ever heard from the ensemble. She wisely divided the evening into sections dubbed “The Piper,” “Civic Musicians in Venice,” “A Consort for a King,” “Courtly Dance” (King Henry was exceedingly proud of his dancing.), “Grandeur and Devotion,” “Music for the Theater” and “A Musical Legacy.”

 Across the span of this ambitious musical narrative, Piffaro employed the full spectrum of its instrumental complement: bagpipes, lute, shawms, sackbuts, straight and slide trumpets, recorders, flutes, dulcians, krumhorns and percussion. With the inestimable help of these wonderful recreations of Renaissance instruments, Piffaro’s merry band of players conveyed every emotion experienced by the people of that era and shared by people of our own. 

 All the members of the ensemble played exceedingly well, both technically and interpretively, but I would be amiss if I didn’t specifically mention Grant Herreid on lute. His playing has matured to a remarkable level of artistry in the manner in which he arranges the notes and then performs them. Local audiences are blessed to regularly hear him.

 Piffaro will round out its 2024-25 season with “Now Is the Month of Maying” March 9-11. The local appearance in the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill is set for Saturday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m. For more information call 215-235-8469 or visit piffaro.org.

 Lenten Choral Evensong

 St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, hosted a Lenten Choral Evensong Sunday afternoon, March 23. Presided over by the parish’s assistant rector, the Rev. Madeleine Harris-Lerew, this rendering of the classic Anglican Rite I Evening Service set the somber yet hopeful mood of the third Sunday of Lent as beautifully and inspiringly as any I’ve ever enjoyed.

 Parish Director of Music Andrew Kotylo, with the aid of organ scholar Andy Brown, conducted the Choir of St. Paul’s Church in a musical program of works by John E. West, Bernard Rose, Peter Hurford, T. Tertius Noble, Herbert Howells and Gerre Hancock. Noble’s setting of the Scriptural “Magnificat” and “Nunc dimittis” from his Evening Service in B minor was of particular note. The former caught the unbounded joy of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon receiving the “Annunciation” from the Archangel Gabriel while the latter reflected the blessed assurance prayed by St. Simeon at the fulfillment of God’s promise to see the Messiah. 

 You can contact NOTEWORTHY at Michael-caruso@comcast.net.