Ayers' VENI EMMANUEL performed by Summit Choral Society

December 2007.  Jesse Ayers' Veni Emmanuel for chorus and orchestra was performed December 12, 13, and 14, by the Summit Choral Society (Akron, OH) under the direction of Dr. Frank Jacobs.  The work is a processional piece.  The men begin singing softly in unison, like chant, from behind the audience.  Then the orchestra begins playing the 14th-century hymn while the choir solomnly process in.  From its dark, sombre beginning, the work becomes progressively brighter until the climactic "Rejoice! Rejoice!"