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Church of St. John the Divine
November 19, 2010
1934 was not a good year for English music: within the space of four months (between February 23 and June 6) Edward Elgar, Frederick Delius and Gustav Holst all died.
Holst - born in that same annus mirabilis, 1874, as Ives and Schoenberg - is still viewed, by many, as a one-work composer. But anyone familiar only with The Planets would have been taken somewhat aback by Holst's setting of the Nunc Dimittis which closed Saturday evening's excellent concert by the Victoria Philharmonic Choir and their Music Director, Peter Butterfield.
In fact Holst wrote a considerable body of choral music - very little of it resembling the eerie female chorus of Neptune, the mystic - and, as this work clearly demonstrates, his sacred music is very much in the same English Cathedral tradition as that of his closest friend, Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Butterfield directed a flowing, beautifully-sung account which was the perfect ending to a highly varied evening.
The programme opened with (most of) Zoltan Kodály's Missa Brevis of 1944, performed in memory of the late János Sándor.
The opening Introit, nicely shaped and coloured by organist Michael Molnar, was followed by four choral movements. The sombre Kyrie was enlivened by the central Christe, featuring some stratospheric soprano parts (there was, it must be admitted, just a hint of strain here); throughout, the four parts were very well balanced and diction was admirably clear.
The exuberant Gloria includes numerous tricky tempo changes, all of which were handled very well; the various solo voices in the Qui Tollis were very fine and the closing Cum sancto spiritu invigorating. The somewhat stolid Sanctus featured a rather (aptly) airier Pleni sunt coeli and the closing Agnus Dei grew impassioned at the words Don nobis pacem.
The soloists were mainly drawn from the choir and all were at least very good; kudos then to Nancy Washeim, Chelsie Hart, Julia Hensley, Rowan Hensley, Carolyn Affleck, Amy Hall, Susan Patterson, Eva Bild, Mark DeSilva and Dale Friesen.
In his opening remarks, Butterfield noted that the concert was taking place in between Remembrance Day and St. Cecilia's Day; and it was surely with the former in mind that the next piece, Eleanor Daley's setting of Laurence Binyon's "For the Fallen", was chosen.
With its refrain for solo trumpet, sounding somewhere between the Last Post and the natural trumpet solo in Vaughan Williams's Pastoral Symphony (itself based on RVW's wartime experience in France), hauntingly played by Christopher Fenje, the music is deeply affecting and its sensitive setting of those oh-so-familiar words, "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old / Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning / We will remember them" brought a lump to at least one throat.
Pablo Casals is hardly known as a composer, yet his "O Vos Omnes", which closed the first half, is a marvellously fluid work, very well sung.
The second half of the evening opened with Welsh composer William Mathias's (who was born in 1934) setting of Psalm 67, which was sung at the Royal Wedding in 1981. It is joyful music, less craggy than much of Mathias's output and was incisively sung.
John Tavener's Song for Athene was sung at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997 and is a fine example of Tavener's "Holy minimalist" style, with its organ drone and almost monophonic vocal lines. It was sung with great concentration.
Most choral concerts in my experience, tend not to feature solo vocal items, but this one did, in the form of "Susse Stille, Sanfte Quelle", one of Handel's Nine German Arias.
This was superbly performed by soprano Nancy Washeim, flutist Soile Stratkauskas and organist Molnar (apparently playing on a fold-out keyboard from the main instrument).
I was glad to get this opportunity of hearing Stratkauskas play and to confirm colleague James Young's opinions of her considerable talents. Molnar accompanied with style, all the while nonchalantly standing at his keyboard.
And what can I say about Nancy Washeim? Regular readers will be well aware that I am somewhat intolerant of the solo voice, but Washeim has a beautiful instrument and uses it both intelligently and sensitively. Suffice it to say that her delectable singing inspired in me the urge (which I resisted) to rush around to the stage door after the performance and propose - a feeling that has only been elicited previously by Nancy Argenta and Susan Platts.
I seem to have something of a blind (or, rather, deaf) spot where the music of Eric Whitacre is concerned. His Water Night, like other pieces I have heard, sounds well-constructed and was excellently sung, but, for me, its primary attribute was its merciful brevity.
I know that Whitacre is currently one of the most frequently-performed of choral composers; perhaps his music is more enjoyable to sing than to listen to - or perhaps it is just me.
Phillip Moore's "Morning Prayers" is the first of his three setting of prayers by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A chant-like solo frames the music, appearing four times, with choral settings in between; it was very well sung by Eva Bild.
The music itself was occasionally a little strident ('shouty' is what I wrote in my notebook), but this was the music and not the singing, which, as throughout the evening, was more than good.
It has been a number of years since I last heard the Victoria Philharmonic Choir and this was the first time I have heard them under Butterfield, who is clearly not just a fine choirmaster, as witness the excellent singing from all sections, but also a conductor of skill and considerable insights.
A most rewarding occasion.
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