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CHORAL REVIEW
San Jose Choral Project--Promising, Way To Go
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By Faun Tiedge
A festive mood prevailed Saturday evening at the Mission City
United Methodist Church in Santa Clara for the "Of Christmastide" concert
given by the San Jose Choral Project. Now in its third season, Daniel Hughes' San Jose Choral Project, a chorus of more than
thirty singers, offered a musical potpourri of sacred and secular holiday music.
While the music spanned several centuries and continents, with twenty-two
pieces ranging from Sweelinck and Scheidt to Vaughan Williams and Lauritsen, a contemporary work was the highlight early in the evening, Gorecki's "Totus Tuus." (It would have been helpful to the audience to have the dates of the works included in the program.) The group glowed most in the full choral works displaying their exciting blend, as in John Tavener's "The Lamb," especially the fine voices in the tenor and bass sections.
Hughes, has cultivated the group's fine sound and stage appeal. He is a sensitive and clear conductor, able to call forth excellent nuances in dynamics and phrasing. The Choral Project does need to gain more skill in rhythmic clarity and stylistic contrast, but under his direction, and with an attempt at more polyphonic works, they should grow in this area as well.
Among international carols sung were the Latvian "Christmas Night," a rich tutti sound, amd Dale Wood's highly atmospheric "Carol from an Irish
Cabin," the accompanying harp lending a wistful effect. Morten
Lauridsen's twentieth-century setting of "O Magnum Mysterium" is a
distinctive piece, but it requires a more precise intonation,
especially in the upper vocal ranges. Samuel Scheidt's popular "In Dulci
Jubilo" was performed in double choir format, with trumpets, but somewhat under tempo. The work would have been nicely paired with another piece for double choir. Among the works accompanied by instruments (oboe, clarinet, cello, organ, percussion, guitar) lending an added flavor was John Rutter's arrangement of "Three Kings of Orient."
Welcome variety was provided by theThe African song "Betelehemu (Via
Olatunji, Wendell Whaluml," arranged by Barrington Brooks), staged with some gentle choreography and accompanied by African drums and percussion provided welcome variety.Its enthusiastic reception should encourage the group to take more chances on adventurous and colorful repertoire. The message of Christmas can be broadened through music of different types, and, once in the
spirit, it would have been diverting to have heard more works in this ethnic style.
The program would have benefited from a more cohesive grouping of musical selections, omitting pauses for applause after every selection. For example, although the pieces are unrelated musically, an effective segue directly from Rachmaninoff's psalm setting to the African "Betelehemu" might have carried the audience in a more exciting way from one work to the next.
Among the many ways to celebrate the holiday season, attending a special concert event such as this should certainly be embraced as a holiday tradition.
(Faun Tiedge is currently Professor of Music at the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music.)
©1998 Faun Tiedge, all rights reserved
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