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EARLY MUSIC REVIEW
December 13, 2003
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By Anna Carol Dudley
The other night, the Concord Ensemble came to the Bay Area to tell the
ancient Christmas story in word and song. The San Francisco Early Music
Society presented them in three performances, one drawing a large audience
to St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco on Sunday
afternoon. The program was named "This Endris Night" after a Medieval
carol: "The other night I saw a sight, a star as bright as day..."
In perfect Concord the six men spanned the centuries, from the Nativity
story in the Gospel of Luke to the 20th Century, with Gregorian chant,
Medieval and modern carols, Renaissance polyphony and poetry. The
combination of an imaginatively arranged program with the Concord
Ensemble's mastery of a variety of styles made for a seamless and engaging
telling of the story.
The concert began with a rousing antiphonal performance of a Medieval
Nowell, a quartet of singers in front of the audience and two tenors at the
back. Then began the Advent section of the story, with a poem, "The Risk
of Birth," by Madeleine L'Engle, followed by the Gregorian chant "Puer
natus est" (A boy is born), introducing the Kyrie of a mass by Pierre de
la Rue, Missa puer natus est nobis (Mass: to us a boy is born). The reading of the Medieval
"Cherry Tree Carol," in which Joseph voices his suspicion of his pregnant wife and
is reassured by a miracle, led naturally to the singing of another carol,
"Marvel Not Joseph." The Concords have a gift for arranging the carols in
duets and trios alternating with the whole ensemble, and additional dynamic
contrasts make a wonderfully varied effect. The Advent section ended with a
beautiful rendering of Josquin des Prez' quartet "Ave Maria," augmented by
two ornamental parts added by an anonymous composer.
The next section, "The Birth," was led off by bass Scott Graff, giving St. Luke's familiar story a beautifully lucid reading. Graff joined a quartet to sing a Noel by the 15th-century Antoine Busnoys — not your usual rambunctious Noel, but slow and sweet. Pierre de la Rue's mass reappeared, this time with the Sanctus. A carol followed, read as a poem, and the section ended with a 20th century carol by Elizabeth Poston, "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree." Countertenor Paul Flight sang the first verse, then was joined by increasing numbers of singers in subsequent verses, and the last verse was back to a solo by Flight — a lovely ending to the first half. After intermission the ensemble returned with a 16th Century "Gaudete!" (Rejoice!). The performance, livened by solo turns for alto Pablo Corá, tenors N. Lincoln Hanks and Daniel Carberg, and baritone Aaron Cain, made telling use of rhythmic energy and dynamic contrast. The last section, "Good Tidings," included the title song "This Endris Night," arranged by Vaughan Williams and further arranged by Hanks. Adrian Willaert's 16th Century "O beata infantia" (O blessed infant) was felicitously balanced in performance, individual voices repeatedly coming to the fore then retreating back into the ensemble. In Cipriano de Rore's "Hodie Christus natus est" (Christ is born today) and Gustav Holst's arrangement of "Lullay, my Liking," the singers introduced bits of ornamentation so naturally that one had to be familiar with the pieces to know what was being improvised.
Pierre de la Rue's mass turned up again, this time with the Agnus Dei, and the concert ended with a long instrumental Noel by the 15th-century composer Antoine Brumel, converted into a lively, strongly rhythmic vocal piece by adding many "noels." The enthusiastic audience, after demanding several bows, was happily rewarded with a repeat performance of the "Gaudete!" The San Francisco Early Music Society should be congratulated for bringing the Concord Ensemble to the Bay Area. This group specializes in new music as well as old, and they are worth hearing in any setting.
(Anna Carol Dudley is a singer, teacher, member of the faculties of the University of California, Berkeley, and San Francisco State University [lecturer emerita] and director emerita of the San Francisco Early Music Society's Baroque Music Workshop.)
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