On Tuesday, April 21, 2015, I attended the Calmus Ensemble. This performance was part of the Auditorium Chamber Music and Series of the University of Idaho. The Calmus Ensemble is a cappella quintet from Leipzig Germany. The five singers are as follows; Anja Poche as soprano, Sebastian Krause as countertenor, Tobias Poche as tenor, Ludwig Bohme as baritone, and Manuel Helmeke as bass. The group began in 1999 after the last of its members graduated from St. Thomas Church Choir School in Leipzig. (All members attended the school.) This performance marked the 999th performance in the United States and the first in Idaho. The concert lasted roughly two hours with on intermission half way through. The group performed a total of eighteen pieces.…show more content… The song had a light timbre and the performers voice’s complemented each other beautifully. This piece contained a conjunct melody. They also performed Alles, was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn and Fugue: Alleluja, which were both composed by Bach. They also performed a song by Johann Herrmann Schein titled Das ist mir Lieb. This song is about God’s love. The dark, depressing elements show the sorrow of the character in the song, while the Halleluiah section shows the joy the character feels. The piece by Robert Schumann called Romanzen und Balladen perfectly represents the ideals of the Romantic period. This song does a terrific job communicating the emotions of all of the characters and has detailed descriptions for all landscapes. The next artist the Calmus ensemble chose to represent was Franz Schubert. They chose two of his pieces to perform called Die Winterreise and Die Forelle. These pieces also encompassed the Romanic vision. Die Winterreise had a slow tempo and a repetitive nature to it. All of the pieces performed in the first half of the concert sounded…show more content… Their intentions in mixing the two diverse styles of music were to allow the audience the chance to contemplate the music in a new way. They wanted to ensure that the music selections were living up to the concert title of “Touched”. The pop songs that were sung were Shape of My Heart by Sting, Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Freddie Mercury, Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone by Bill Withers, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle, and Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin. The madrigals they chose were O Primavera, Hush No More, Le Chant des Oyseaux, Dindirin, Dindirin, and Feritevi,
