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CORVALLIS - The Corvallis Repertory Singers, conducted by Steven Zielke, will present "War and Peace: Music About Conflict and Resolution" on Saturday, Feb. 1. The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 11th and Monroe in Corvallis.

A full range of Western perceptions of war are explored in two masterful choral works: Joseph Haydn's "Mass in Time of War," and Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Dona Nobis Pacem." Soloists are Judy Hedges, soprano; Laura South-Oryshchyn, soprano; Gale Hazel, mezzo-soprano; Tom Burt, tenor; and Peter Butler, baritone. Zielke is director of choral activities at Oregon State University.

Nobility and glory dominate Haydn's great "Mass in Time of War," written as Napoleon was advancing on Vienna, the composer's home. The music is vigorous and proud, with stirring tempos and martial brass. Only near the end, in the hushed "Agnus Dei" ("Lamb of God, have mercy on us"), do the distant drums begin to sound ominous.

Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem expresses a very different view of war. This work, written in the 1930s, is set to heart-wrenching poetry by Walt Whitman, who was a nurse in the Civil War. Using biblical passages as well, the composer powerfully carries the listener from bravery and horror, through compassion and grief, to peace.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $4 for students, and are available at Scandinavian Trading Company, Grass Roots Books, The Emporium, the OSU Department of Music (101 Benton Hall), and at Sid Stevens Jewelers in Albany. Some tickets may be available at the door.