Mailing party next week! Postcards and flyers advertising our upcoming concert are on the way. Next week, please bring your address book to rehearsal. Postcards and stamps will be provided; at the break, we’ll have a brief "mailing party" where you can fill out a few cards to send to your friends.

Also, please start thinking about places to post flyers – your workplace, school, place of worship, favorite café, or anywhere else you can think of.

Brandt & Bruck. Two of our lesser-known composers this season are Jobst vom Brandt ("Nun ist der Winter gar so hart") and Arnold von Bruck ("So trinken wir alle").

Brandt (1517 – 1570) is unusual in that he probably did not consider himself a composer at all. Born in Germany to a family of landed gentry and administrators traceable back to the early 13^th history, from his youth he studied law at the Palatinate University of Heidelberg (though he also attended the electoral choir school for musical training). In the 1540’s Brandt served as a judge and as the administrative official in charge of a Catholic monastery. His fortunes shifted somewhat during the reign of Elector Count Palatine Ottheinrich, who favored the Reformation. For a time Brandt was kept in custody, but by 1558 the worst of the politico-religious upheaval seems to have passed, and he returned to official duties. After 1562 he retired from official life, devoting his time to managing the family estates and to composition, which had evidently been an avocation throughout his life. He published dozens of secular songs during his youth, and a collection of sacred music came out after his death. Brandt always remained an amateur, as being a professional musician was likely considered inappropriate for one of his high birth. Nevertheless, he developed a reputation as an excellent composer, mostly of motet-style polyphony. His music shows great formal variety, abounding in imitation and ostinato contrapuntal motifs, and his sacred Geistliche Psalmen was considered a masterpiece.

It may surprise some to learn that our German drinking song, "So trinken wir alle," was written by a priest. Bruck (1500 – 1554) was born in Bruges, the Netherlands. He was a chorister in the chapel of Charles V, and after ordination became court Kapellmeister to Charles V's brother Archduke Ferdinand (later Ferdinand I). Bruck held benefices in Ljubljana and Zagreb, later in Vienna and finally in Linz, where he died in 1554. His surviving compositions include sacred Latin works in the style of Josquin and sacred and secular songs in German, evidence of his pre-eminent position as a composer in the Austrian territories of his day.

♫ Choral Workshop with Composer Morten Lauridsen. Saturday Oct 29, 9:30am-12.30pm. Spend the morning exploring the choral music of Morten Lauridsen! The composer will provide information on his compositional style and lead participants through the rehearsal and performance of his Lux Aeterna (Requiem Mass) and other compositions. $25 fee includes a free copy of the score. The Annual Requiem Mass at St. Dominic’s, featuring Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, will be performed by St Dominic's Solemn Mass Choir and Orchestra and the San Francisco Choral Artists on Weds, Nov. 2, 2005, 7:30 pm. FREE: No admission charge, but donations gladly accepted. Both events are at St. Dominic's Catholic Church, 2390 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. Plenty of free parking!

♫ Handel Dixit Dominus: Sorelle (aka Fweeter) in concert with the Gentlemen of the Pacific Boychoir. Conducted by Christopher Kula, with soloists Marcelle Dronkers, Christina Schiffner, and Dorothy Streutker, plus James Meredith of Sonos on piano and organ. Also on the program: Poulenc, Schumann, and a "world premiere" from Bay Area composer Linda Schneider. Saturday, November 5 at 8 pm and Sunday, November 6 at 2 pm, Lake Park United Methodist Church, 281 Santa Clara Ave. in Oakland. Wheelchair-accessible, and free parking is available at the church. (www.sorelle.org)