The performance of “Daphnis et Chloe” at the Seattle Symphony put me in a hopeful mood. What other seldom heard, secular pieces for chorus and orchestra could the SSO perform next?
By no means is the following poll an exhaustive list of the many pieces composed for chorus and orchestra. But, if you had to pick just one, which would you like to hear the SSO or another local ensemble perform?
Frank Ferko is in town for a performance of his Stabat Mater by Choral Arts. He participated in a Meet the Composer last night at Fare Start. I live blogged the Q&A (you can find the transcript by clicking on the Live Blog page) and at the beginning of the question period I took this short video of Ferko talking about what went into each stanza, why he skipped the second, and why the stanzas toward the end are shorter. If your Saturday evening is empty, consider coming to St. James Cathedral at 8 pm to hear Choral Arts’ performance.
Frank Ferko explains how he composed his “Stabat Mater” from gatheringnote on Vimeo.
TGN is launching another live blog event. This time, I will be live blogging from the Choral Arts’ Meet the Composer reception with composer Frank Ferko starting at 6:30 pm this Friday at Fare Start. Attending the Meet to Composer reception with Mr. Ferko is a good opportunity to meet and interact with one of the country’s foremost choral composers. However, if you can’t attend, follow the live blog by checking back with this post or visiting the Live Blog page.
Choral Arts is presenting Ferko’s austere Stabat Mater this weekend at St. James’ Cathedral.
Continue reading TODAY: TGN live blog’s Frank Ferko “Meet the Composer” reception
By R.M. Campbell
The Puget Sound region has an abundance of choral groups, from very small ensembles to large masses of singers. While they vary in quality, most are more than respectable and some first-class. They cover the repertory in astonishing breadth and depth.
Continue reading Cappella Romana devotes an evening to Serbian Orthodox music
On Saturday, December 19th, Choral Arts gave a wonderful Christmas Concert at the Trinity Parish Church in Seattle. Led by Robert Bode, and accompanied by Libby Watrous, the Choral Arts choir sang Christmas songs and carols from multiple cultures. The concert was divided up into four parts: Seeking Sanctuary, Inviting Mystery, Mother and Child, and Love Came Down. Every piece had its strong points, and among the many wonderful carols that were sung, I was very impressed with three in particular.
When the Choral Arts choir sang The Road Home from “Southern Harmony”
, arranged by Stephen Paulus, I was engulfed in the story of the song. I believed them as they sang. The sincerity that they sung with cannot be taught. In order to be that believable when you’re performing you have to perform with true intention, from a meaningful place deep inside yourself that can only be sung out in song. The vocalises before each stanza were especially poignant. The arrangement was also beautiful. The traditional treatment of the harmonies complimented the choir’s timbre. There were no individuals, only the choir as a whole. And, with the delicate pronunciation of the words, the audience wasn’t hit over the head with syllabic singing.
My favorite German piece of the program was Komm, Heil’ger Geist
by Georg Schumann. The intent behind the singing was also wonderful in this piece. That sincerity coupled with the effectiveness of their dynamic contrast and the modulation in the middle of the piece heightened the auditory response and made the performance even more powerful. Right before the modulation the sopranos were singing in octaves with the altos and the effect was heavenly. The sopranos were able to sit on top of the harmony without overpowering the choir, while enhancing the harmonics of the chord. It was an excellent way to lead the audience into the dramatic key change.
Venez, Mes Enfants
, arranged by Donald Patriquin, was also wonderful. The carol itself is very playful and light, and the mood created by the choir with their bubbling voices and delicate pronunciation emulated the phrase, “C’est La Vie.” The call and response section between the men and the women was especially enjoyable. The Choral Arts women had a strong core sound that resonated into the highest arches of the church and the men’s voices were just as powerful. My favorite part of the piece was the ending. The coordinated release at the end of the last verse was breathtaking. It made the silence following the piece all the more deafening. Overall, the performance was fantastic and I would highly recommend seeing them when they come back to Seattle. Their next concert is going to be at St. James Cathedral on Saturday, March 20th at 8PM.
Adding to the odd mix of pieces, the youthful Christmas Oratorio by Saint-Saens welcomed a leaner audience (many of the families with young children left) after the intermission. Saint-Saens music is remembered and enjoyed because it tends toward the beautiful as opposed to the innovative – not that innovative has to be ugly.
Saint-Saens, at the ripe age of twenty three, wrote the Christmas Oratorio in eleven days. The work’s placid harmonies and swooping melodies radiated from the orchestra and the chamber singers. Solos for soprano (Linda Tsatsanis), mezzo-soprano (Melissa Plagemann), alto (Tessa Studebaker), tenor (Stephen Wall) and bass (Brian Box) were delightfully shaped by the afternoon’s soloists.
I am confident that no other orchestra, choral ensemble, or chamber group performing a holiday concert this year featured a program of Prokofiev, Bozza/Kechley, or Saint-Saens. Like oil and water, these composers and the piece’s chosen for Orchestra Seattle’s holiday concert, don’t mix. This is precisely what Shangrow wants and what OSSCS observers expect. Days after the concert, I am still not sure how I feel about the collective impact of the choices. Making sense of it all, trying to deduce a purpose for the program has been maddening. Making sense of a concert, however, isn’t as important when you have a community orchestra that plays and a chorus that sings as well as OSSCS.
Some ensembles pad their December concerts with traditional holiday music ranging from GF Handel’s Messiah (which the composer never intended as the holiday staple it has become) to tapestries of Christmas carols, often set in new or unfamiliar ways. A handful of ensembles in town buck these traditional formulas for programs that are different, but in the holiday spirit. Orchestra Seattle’s performance of Saint Saens Christmas Oratorio this weekend is in this spirit. On the extreme ends of the spectrum are two groups – the Esoterics and the Seattle Men’s Chorus – with completely different points of view on what makes a successful choral performance.
Continue reading Snarky and the sublime: the Esoterics and the Seattle Men’s Chorus
By: R.M. Campbell
Opus 7, one of the most esteemed musical groups anywhere, has little interest in musical trinkets of the season, at least this year. At its annual Christmas concert Sunday night at St James Cathedral, the vocal ensemble looked to Mendelssohn as well as Einojuhani Rautavaara and Georg Schumann instead. All proved to be fascinating.
Gathering Note 