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CORVALLIS - "Madness in Music" is the theme of this year's final concert by the Corvallis Repertory Singers, a 28-voice ensemble of area singers conducted by Steven M. Zielke, director of choral activities at Oregon State University. The performance begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, at the First United Methodist Church in Corvallis.

The concert theme takes advantage of several meanings of "madness" to serve up an eclectic mix of choral music from the sacred to the silly. Its centerpiece is Benjamin Britten's "Rejoice in the Lamb" for choir, soloists and organ, with Myles Criss as organist. The cantata is based on a poem by Christopher Smart, an 18th-century English poet who wrote some of his works while confined in an asylum.

Soloists are Camelia Nine, Joan Caldwell, Peter Gysegem, and Peter Butler.

The concert also will include "nonsense" songs by Matyas Seiber, based on poetry of Edward Lear; and the avant-garde "Rondes," by Folke Rabe. "The strange pops, hissing, and gurgling sounds emanating from the choir could either entertain or frighten audience members," Zielke said with a laugh.

Concluding the first half, he says, are three charming songs from "Alice in Wonderland" by American composer Irving Fine.

The concert will take a decided turn for the silly in the second half with P.D.Q. Bach's dramatic oratorio "Oedipus Tex" for orchestra, soloists, and choir. Peter Schickele, a serious American composer, has published numerous works under the pseudonym P.D.Q. Bach, all striking a blow at the staid reputation of classical music. As tongue-in-cheek "scholar," he credits P.D.Q. Bach as "the sole source of our knowledge [of] the presence of ancient Greeks in the New World" and claims the work was found at the Alamo inside the shirt of Davy Crockett who had attempted to use it to create a bulletproof vest.

Zielke calls Oedipus Tex "a cowboy romp about a Texan from Thebes Gulch who runs into a little classic trouble with his father and mother." In this presentation, Oedipus is performed by Paul Pritchard. His wife (and mother), Billie Jo Casta, is sung by Evelyn Smith. Mick Bryson is the narrator, and Melissa Jenkins sings the part of soothsayer Madam Peep.

Tickets are available in advance for $10 or at the door for $12. Student tickets are $4. Advance tickets are sold at Scandinavian Trading Co., Grass Roots Books, ValleyTix at the Majestic Theatre, The Book End in Timberhill Shopping Center, the OSU Music Department, and Sid Stevens in Albany.

For more information, call 541-737-4061.