Apr 30, 2019 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 4 min read

Directors of classical music tend to seek unifying themes for performances by their ensembles, and anniversaries often serve as inspiration.

A few years ago, Upper St. Clair native Matthew Mehaffey was doing research in that regard when he came across a certain name featuring prominently in 19th-century composition.

“I found that this piece was written for Queen Victoria, and this piece was written for Queen Victoria,” he said. “So then I thought, well, maybe there’s something here that would create a full concert, and I started doing more digging.”

His idea has come to fruition as “Victoria’s Secret: A Life in Music,” celebrating the 200th anniversary of the British monarch’s birth. Performances are scheduled for May 18 and 19 by the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, which Mehaffey leads as music director.

Complementing the choir are actors Lisa Ann Goldsmith in the title role and Bradley Greenwald, who will portray all five of the queen’s private secretaries during her nearly 64-year reign.

“Between each piece of music, the actors tell a little story about how the music that you’re about to hear connects to the life of Queen Victoria,” Mehaffey said. “One of the stories that I think is kind of fun for the Mendelssohn Choir is that Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, actually had Felix Mendelssohn come and be a guest for them, and they were friends.”

Music by the choir’s namesake is part of the performance, as are pieces by the likes of Johann Strauss, César-auguste Franck and Arthur Sullivan, all of whom composed pieces for Victoria.

As did Charles Villiers Stanford, who in 1887 wrote “Carmen Saeculare,” with words by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, for the Golden Jubilee marking Victoria’s 50 years on the throne.

“To the best we can tell, it hasn’t really been performed many times since it was written,” Mehaffey said.

And so the piece very well could be making its American debut in “Victoria’s Secret,” which shifts gears at some points.

“A lot of the music celebrates Queen Victoria, but we do a couple of pieces that are less flattering to her,” Mehaffey said, noting the Irish folk song “Skibbereen.”

The song’s topic relates to the potato famine of the 1840s, which contributed significantly to strained relations between Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom, and the British Crown.

On a brighter note, the concert concludes with a sing-along rendition of the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen.”

“Victoria’s Secret” premiered in April with performances by the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, which Mehaffey also directs. He collaborated with three Minnesota colleagues in developing the concert: Dave Fielding, the society’s programming administrator; Josh Bauder, adjunct music theory professor at the University of St. Thomas; and Andrew Stoebig, a doctoral candidate in musicology at the University of Minnesota.

“The four of us kind of worked as a team to pull the pieces together,” Mehaffey said. “Dave was the music history guy, and Andrew wrote the script. And Josh did all of the musical arrangements.”

The initial performances, he said, received a warm reception.

“It’s kind of like a history lesson, and we try to make it entertaining, too. There are some comical moments and lighthearted moments and touching moments.”

The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh will present “Victoria’s Secret: A Life in Music” at 7:30 p.m. May 18 at East Liberty Presbyterian Church in East Liberty and 3 p.m. May 19 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.themendelssohn.org/concerts-and-tickets/current-season.