Anthology 25: A Sneak Peek at Friday’s Anonymous 4 Program

Few groups have as devoted a following as Anonymous 4, and with the vocal quartet's annual holiday concert coming up tomorrow at the Church of the Holy Trinity (Rittenhouse Square), there's always quite a bit of anticipation about which songs the women will be singing from their wide repertoire. This year's "Anthology 25" program has provoked particular curiosity, featuring as it does selections from each of their 19 harmonia mundi recordings, plus a brand new work by the celebrated New York composer David Lang.

In order, here's the rundown of the works you can expect to hear this Friday night, broken down by category along with the recordings each are drawn from (of course there will be a couple of encores as well).

Anonymous 4

LADYMASS

Prosa:  Gaude Virgo Salutata (An English Ladymass)
Conductus:  Ave Maria salus hominum (The Lily & the Lamb)
Carol:  Ecce quod natura (On Yoolis Night)

LEGENDS

Antiphon:  Que es ista (A Lammas Ladymass)
the wood and the vine (David Lang, 2011)

PROPHECIES

Song:  Mainte chançon ai fait (la bele marie)
Conductus:  Ave virgo virginum (la bele marie)
Lectio ysaye prophete:  Surge et illuminaire (Darkness into Light)
Lection:  Apocalypse 21:1 - 5 (1000:  A Mass for the End of Time)

VISIONS & MIRACLES

Ballad-carol:  Lullay my child - This ender nithgt (The Cherry Tree)
The Lamb (John Tavener) (Wolcom Yule)
Conductus:  Nicholai presulis (Legends of St. Nicholas)
Song:  Novus Annus Adiit (Christmas Music from Medieval Hungary)
Trope:  Gratulantes celebremus festum (Miracles of Sant'Iago)

SISTERHOOD

Hymn:  An teicheahd go héigipt (Wolcum Yule)
Antiphon:  Studium divinitatis (Hildegard of Bingen) (11,000 Virgins)
Antiphon:  O quam mirabilis est (Hildegard of Bingen) (The Origin of Fire)
Motet:  Claustrum/Virgo viget/FLOS FILIUS (Secret Voices)

WONDROUS LOVE

Carol-ballad:  The Cherry tree carol (The Cherry Tree)
Folk hymn:  Wondrous love (What wondrous love is this) (American Angels)
Fuging tune:  Bethlehem (William Billings, 1778) (The Cherry Tree)

Anonymous 4 appears on Friday, December 16th at 8 pm at the Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square. For tickets and information, visit the concert page or call the PCMS Box Office at 215-569-8080.