ADDY PITTENGER, Arts & Life Editor—
Sometimes our college singing days go beyond our mere four years at Denison. In 1961, Professor Emeritus Dr. William Osborne founded the Denison Singers, an organization of chamber singers dedicated to continuing vocal performance across multiple generations all throughout the globe.
Since the group’s founding, they have performed 594 concerts, touring across North America, South America, and Europe, while also being featured on radio stations as well as TV. This past Sunday, the current Denison Chamber Singers held a collaborative concert with the Denison Singers in order to welcome back alumni to Swasey, as well as bring the rest of the community together on a cloudy, cool afternoon.
This concert featured chapel inspired music, both containing chorale hymns and more modern choir pieces of known lyricists and poets sung by both choirs.
The program started off with the Denison Singers performing a Quaker hymn titled, “How Can I Keep from Singing,” speaking about facing oppression, and pushing through to new beginnings.
In contrast to the previous song, the following song was titled, “Ave verum corpus,” arranged by William Byrd, is a short Eucharistic Christian chant. Originally written in Latin, the English composer was known for his work during the late Renaissance of the era of Elizabeth I’s reign, despite his ties to Roman Catholicism.
After the Denison Singers finished their set, the Denison Chamber Singers took the stage. A more light-hearted song, “How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place,” composed by German composer, Johannes Brahms, takes a well-known Bible verse, Psalm 84: 1,2,3, and reamplifies it with beautiful, soulful harmonies, leading up to a full, heartful anthem.
Following, Denison Chamber Singers sang “The Road Home” arranged by Paulus, and lyrics written by Michael Dennis Browne. The song is about feeling lost in one’s way, constantly hoping to be guided back by something or someone. Yet, that hope is what gets our character to follow an unnamed guide in order to finally return back to his home, his happiness, and satisfaction.
Chambers Singers concluded with the song, “For the Beauty of the Earth” arranged by Rutter, and lyrics by poet and hymnodist, Folliott S. Pierpoint, a beautiful song which depicts the love of the Lord and how his love goes beyond people, and falls into nature as well, symbolizing how the world is all connected through the beauty of the world.
The concert concluded with both choirs performing the Denison alma mater, “To Denison,” a rather sentimental send off for a collaboration of music spreading across multiple generations. Denison alumni and granville residents were all invited in order to hear beautiful voices that would fly out of Swasey. It was as if an embodiment of heavenly sounds casted itself upon Denison that day, and decided to land on the talented choirs.