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Creation, Truth, Joy are the ideas behind the music of the Fredericksburg Chorale’s Spring Concert of original compositions and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. The concerts are scheduled for Thursday, May 15, and Friday, May 16, at Hill Country Evangelical Free Church located at 107 East Lower Crabapple Rd., and will begin at 7:00 p.m. No reservations are needed; donations will be accepted. More information can be found at 830-997-6869 or www.fredericksburgchorale.com.

The concert will open with new compositions and will feature the Chorale Mission instrumental ensemble. The first is a setting of a poem by Stephanie Sutton entitled Creation. “These words truly are the foundation of the entire concert,” said director, Mark Hierholzer, “But you will want to listen closely. You will hear them only once. The challenge of the composer is to musically express the text without getting in the way of the beauty of the poetry. And in beginning the concert with a work on creation, we state the foundation, the reasons why we create, and why we derive such joy from singing and sounding the creations of others.”

Next is an instrumental piece by Mark Hierholzer entitled, Transformation. “It is a musical description of transformations of emotion - transformation which lead from paths of death and despair, through struggle, to gratitude and joy,” said Hierholzer.

The third piece is a woodwind trio by Fredericksburg High School Senior, Adam Giese. The composition is for Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon, and uses the instruments as voices in conversation. Adam is bassoonist with the Chorale Mission ensemble and his piano piece, Breeze at Dawn was performed by Hierholzer in a Dialogues and Dances concert last month. Jennifer Hallford will play the flute and Hierholzer will play the clarinet.

The fourth composition is entitled Canticle IV and is a setting of a poem written by Mark Hierholzer. “It is a call for us all, with pure hearts, which is to say, with a constant vigilance on our motives, to seek truth, and to never be afraid to see it, hear it, and proclaim it,” said Hierholzer.

There will be a short break for refreshments followed by the second half of the program which features Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

The symphony was composed over a two year period and was completed in 1824, three years before the composer’s death. The work is a culmination of a body of works; his symphonies, each of which is a masterpiece.

The work is in four movements, the first three instrumental. The last movement involves the chorus singing Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.”