Holding onto hope: Sangre de Cristo Chorale opens season with tribute to Anne Frank

The 48-voice Sangre de Cristo Chorale is opening its season with a tribute to Anne Frank.

In 2004, British composer James Whitbourn based his oratorio “Annelies” on “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.”

The chorale will perform the piece on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Santa Fe’s St. Bede’s Episcopal Church and Temple Beth Shalom on Sunday, Oct. 20.

Holding onto hope: Sangre de Cristo Chorale opens season with tribute to Anne Frank

“ ‘Annelies’ was Anne’s nickname in German,” said music director George Case.

“Anne Frank has long been considered a symbol of hope and humanity in the face of unspeakable tragedy,” he continued. “ ‘Annelies’ provides an experience for audiences to be brought into the story.”

Soprano Jennifer Perez will narrate Anne’s voice, accompanied by piano, violin and clarinet.

Frank was a German Jewish girl who kept a diary for two years, documenting her life in hiding amid Nazi persecution during the German occupation of the Netherlands.

The music depicts the fear and horror of the Holocaust, but also the hope and love found in the diary, Case said. “Annelies” set her diary to music, beginning with Anne and her family going into hiding in Amsterdam to their capture by the Nazis two years later.

“An oratorio is basically an opera without the staging,” Case said. “An oratorio is historically what took place during Lent because they couldn’t perform operas.”

There are scenes of the family going into the annex that hid them, accompanied by the fear of being discovered, Case added.

“There was a horse chestnut tree outside the annex,” he continued. “It was the only thing she could see. It was a symbol of hope for her.”

The piece ends with a meditation about hearing the thunder approaching them. “But as long as you can look into the sky, you have hope,” Anne wrote.

“The story doesn’t end well, but she had hope,” Case said.