|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources |
|
|
|
Winchester Cathedral Choir Exalts English Choral Tradition
| Article
# : |
10963 |
|
|
Section : |
THE ARTS
|
| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1986 |
1,041 Words |
| Author
: |
Emerson Randolph
|
The English choral tradition took the stage in the red robes and white ruff collars of the Choir of Winchester Cathedral under conductor Martin Neary, in a performance at New York City's Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center on April 6.
This all-male tradition, relying on boy trebles and contraltos, is heir to a wealth of literature, and the chorus presented a widely varied, representative body of materials ranging in style from the sixteenth-century polyphony of William Byrd (1543-1623), Robert White (1534-1576), and Thomas Weelkes (1575-1623) to the challenging work of contemporaries John Tavener and Jonathan Harvey (born 1944 and 1939, respectively) and the renowned Benjamin Britten (1913-1976).
The only non-English choral selection present was "Der Geist hilft," one of six famous motets of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), which, notwithstanding its engaging character, might have been omitted without serious detriment.
The first three selections, Byrd's "Laudibus in Sanctis," White's "Christe, Qui Lux Es et Dies," and Weelkes' "O Lord, Arise," certainly were performed with stylistic correctness and taste; but the chorus, either because they were tired (they had performed at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue earlier in the day) or because they were as yet unaccustomed to the acoustical firmament of Tully Hall, were only good, and did not "set the air afire" with the sort of enthusiasm that transforms very good work into compelling work.
My suspicion is that it was at least partially the unfamiliar acoustic that created problems in
... (2000 of 6508 Characters)
Read Full Article
|
|
