Date: Saturday April 26 2025
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: Temple Theatre-201 N Washington Ave
Join Us for a Grand Finale Celebrating the Titans of Music!
Saginaw Choral Society is proud to conclude its season with a monumental tribute to the titans of
classical music Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Mozart was not in the best state of mind when in late 1791 when he received an anonymous
commission to compose a Requiem Mass. His health was deteriorating and he believed he had
been asked to write a requiem as a ‘swansong’ for himself.
Mozart died at age 35 on December 5 1791 leaving the Requiem uncompleted. Mozart’s wife
asked his pupil Franz Xavier Süssmayr to finish the work. Süssmayer did indeed finish it then
copied the entire piece in his own hand keeping the Requiem shrouded in mystery as to who
wrote what.
Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy was intended to be the concluding work on a benefit concert he
put on for himself on December 22 1808. He wanted a brilliant finale that would showcase all
the musical forces of the evening: piano solo mixed chorus and orchestra. Being a fine pianist
as well as composer he was the soloist at the premier and is known to have improvised the
opening piano solo of the work.
The work includes a sequence of variations on a theme that is felt to be an early version of
Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” theme Beethoven used in his Ninth Symphony. Beethoven himself
acknowledged the kinship of the two works saying the Fantasy was "a setting of the words of
Schiller's immortal "Lied an die Freude" in the same way as my pianoforte fantasia with chorus
but on a far grander scale."
Our performance will feature our own brilliant pianist Catherine McMichael as soloist.
Said to have met only once during their lifetimes these two giants meet again on the iconic
Temple stage when we present Titans of Music in our season ending tribute to two of the
greatest composers of all time!
Ticket Information:
General Admission: $30 $24 $10
Premier Balcony (includes hospitality): $45
Student Tickets: $10. For student tickets seated next to parents call the Box Office at 989-754-7469
Online: www.templetheatre.com
Event Venue
Temple Theatre, 201 N Washington Ave, Saginaw, MI 48607, United States
USD 30.00
