BBC Singers at Milton Court in 20th Century American Choral Music
Copland: In the beginning
Whitacre: Three Songs of faith; Waternight; Sleep
interval talk by Stephen Johnson on Steve Reich's post Armageddon piece “The Desert Music”
Part II
Reich: The Desert Music (chamber version with the Endymion Players)
BBC Singers
David Hill (conductor)
Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano)
live from Milton Court, London
7.30pm Tuesday, 15th October, 2013
In the Beginning.
Copland was a clear-headed, confident composer. To have received a commission for a 1947 Symposium on Musical Criticism must have been daunting, anyway, but to respond with an extended a cappella motet, a genre in which Aaron lacked experience, showed chutzpah. Was it fortunate for Copland that Zhdanov was busy excoriating Khachaturian, Prokofiev and Shostakovich for formalism? Probably not, Copland’s simple but clever scheme involving a colloquial mezzo-soprano, a choir that develops from monody, through canons to polytonality & possibly dodecaphony; a structure that reflects the first seven days anchored by a ritornello, plus a tessitura that rises day by day, emphasising the increasing importance of each phase of creation was immediately accessible to the assembled 1947 critics. They joined in a chorus of praise that has been echoed through the decades, and the piece might have appealed even to the Soviet censor. I’ve felt that it was a masterpiece of 20th century choralism since first hearing it in the 60s sung in Christchurch Priory, Hants by a talented amateur choir from New Zealand.
So, I was delighted when the BBC Singers started its first Concert in Milton Court (Guildhall School of Music’s new Concert Hall) with this piece under the direction of that versatile choral conductor, David Hill, who has an unerring way of getting to the heart of works from a broad spectrum of musical traditions. I realise how nerve-wracking it is to start an unaccompanied concert as a lone solo voice, and Jennifer Johnston surmounted that task with ease, projecting her line with clarity and bloom whilst adding a patina of American Gospel Singer to her normal style. The Singers responded with bright focus but their vowels had been honed in Anglican vaults and not on American prairies. An excellent “English” take on an enduring American masterpiece. The sound from Milton Court had a clean focus, a clarity and depth; with sufficient, but not excessive, resonance. Another successful debut for this new auditorium although I felt it may not be brilliant at mystery. What they sing is what you get.
The Whitacre pieces that followed did less for me but that was not caused through inadequate performance. I’m afraid that I’ve not found the time, yet, to listen to either the interval talk or the Singers’ performance of the Reich. Perhaps, you have – what do you feel about them?
Whitacre: Three Songs of faith; Waternight; Sleep
interval talk by Stephen Johnson on Steve Reich's post Armageddon piece “The Desert Music”
Part II
Reich: The Desert Music (chamber version with the Endymion Players)
BBC Singers
David Hill (conductor)
Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano)
live from Milton Court, London
7.30pm Tuesday, 15th October, 2013
In the Beginning.
Copland was a clear-headed, confident composer. To have received a commission for a 1947 Symposium on Musical Criticism must have been daunting, anyway, but to respond with an extended a cappella motet, a genre in which Aaron lacked experience, showed chutzpah. Was it fortunate for Copland that Zhdanov was busy excoriating Khachaturian, Prokofiev and Shostakovich for formalism? Probably not, Copland’s simple but clever scheme involving a colloquial mezzo-soprano, a choir that develops from monody, through canons to polytonality & possibly dodecaphony; a structure that reflects the first seven days anchored by a ritornello, plus a tessitura that rises day by day, emphasising the increasing importance of each phase of creation was immediately accessible to the assembled 1947 critics. They joined in a chorus of praise that has been echoed through the decades, and the piece might have appealed even to the Soviet censor. I’ve felt that it was a masterpiece of 20th century choralism since first hearing it in the 60s sung in Christchurch Priory, Hants by a talented amateur choir from New Zealand.
So, I was delighted when the BBC Singers started its first Concert in Milton Court (Guildhall School of Music’s new Concert Hall) with this piece under the direction of that versatile choral conductor, David Hill, who has an unerring way of getting to the heart of works from a broad spectrum of musical traditions. I realise how nerve-wracking it is to start an unaccompanied concert as a lone solo voice, and Jennifer Johnston surmounted that task with ease, projecting her line with clarity and bloom whilst adding a patina of American Gospel Singer to her normal style. The Singers responded with bright focus but their vowels had been honed in Anglican vaults and not on American prairies. An excellent “English” take on an enduring American masterpiece. The sound from Milton Court had a clean focus, a clarity and depth; with sufficient, but not excessive, resonance. Another successful debut for this new auditorium although I felt it may not be brilliant at mystery. What they sing is what you get.
The Whitacre pieces that followed did less for me but that was not caused through inadequate performance. I’m afraid that I’ve not found the time, yet, to listen to either the interval talk or the Singers’ performance of the Reich. Perhaps, you have – what do you feel about them?
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