CHRISTMAS MUSIC TO RING IN SEASON

Getting in the mood for Christmas shouldn't be difficult for those who attend tonight's concert by the Choral Union. Nearly 200 voices backed by the Southeast Missouri State University Orchestra will sing traditional Christmas songs as part of the groups' annual fall concert.

In the choral work "The Many Moods of Christmas," concertgoers will recognize "What Child Is This," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Angels We Have Heard on High," along with the French carol "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella." The 8 o'clock concert in Academic Auditorium will conclude with Mack Wilberg's "Four American Folk Hymns," a piece Choral Union director Dr. John Egbert describes as "incredibly intense.""The Many Moods of Christmas" is a four-part suite of Christmas carols arranged for full orchestra and choir by Robert Shaw and Robert Russell Bennett. The Choral Union is performing one of the suites.

People have been asking for the Choral Union to perform traditional Christmas music for the past decade, Egbert said, and "we thought it would be a great time at the beginning of the millennium to look back at our heritage and do music based on our heritage." The decision to sing traditional Christmas carols is probably the main reason membership in the choir increased dramatically this year, he said. The choir has 30 more singers for this concert than for "Carmina Burana," 1996's exceedingly popular undertaking.

These are songs most people have known since childhood. "But when you hear a full symphony orchestra and a 200-voice choir doing it, it has a profound effect on people," Egbert said.

Wilberg's "Four American Folk Hymns" also celebrates traditions, but those who remember the Choral Union's performance of his "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" a few years ago know they are in for an emotional finale to the concert. The Christmas songs originally were scheduled to be performed last but were moved up after the singers convinced Egbert they would be exhausted at the completion of "Four American Folk Hymns."The sopranos maintain a high B for nine continuous measures at one point and a high C for three measures at another. Wilberg provides alternatives to such demands and the singers were given that option. "But they wanted to do it," Egbert said.

Wilberg is considered one of the foremost arrangers of choral music in the United States. He formerly taught at Brigham Young University and is one of the conductors of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The orchestra, directed by Dr. Sara Edgerton, will perform two works on its own. The orchestra will open festively with "Crown Imperial," a William Walton work commissioned for the coronation of King George VI at Westminster Abbey in 1936. The march-like music contains rich harmonic chords and would have been accompanied by an organ in Westminster Abbey. "We're hoping we will fill Academic with sound," Edgerton said.

The orchestra also will perform Gabriel Faure's "," a short melodious piece spotlighting the harp and flute.

Concertgoers are urged to arrive early. Last year's concert by the Choral Union sold out. Some who arrived just before 8 were unable to find seats.