“Transcendent Sonorities,” a collection of gorgeous choral works transcribed for trombone quartet, was the group’s most popular program offering last season.  As an instrument which was designed to match the range and timbre of the human voice, the trombone has spent centuries filling out and accompanying sacred choirs. The group’s original “Transcendent Sonorities” program allowed the trombone to move to the foreground and show the beauty and power that has been hidden in the back row of the orchestra.

This year’s offering improves on the original by featuring more music tailored to and arranged by the Guidonian Hand themselves, and includes some of the most beautiful choral music in the world.  From early works by Palestrina and Pérotin and the Flemish stylings of Ockeghem, through the classicism of Mozart and Haydn, to the 19th century Romanticism of Mendelssohn and Brahms, the Guidonian Hand offers a compelling case for the subtle beauty of the trombone that listeners won’t soon forget.

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Works to be performed on the “Transcendent Sonorities II” program include:

Bach, Jesu meine Freud BWV 227
Bach, Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden BWV 230
Mozart, Requiem and Kyrie
Brahms, 3 Sacred Choruses, Op. 37
Haydn, Achieved is Thy Glorious Work
Mendelssohn, Songs without Words Op. 19
Michael Haydn, Mass selections
Palestrina, Sicut cervus
Pérotin, Sederunt Principes
Victoria, Ave Maris Stella (1600 version)
Ockeghem, Gradual