San Francisco Classical Voice

CHORAL MUSIC REVIEW A Midsummer Night's Dream of a Concert

June 24, 2001

Pekka Kostiainen

By Bruce Lamott

Anticipating a concert of Finnish choral music is like facing an invitation to Finnish cuisine — who knows what to expect? Sibelius aside, music by Finnish composers is a lacuna in my experience. If the appealing repertoire of world and U.S. premieres of Finnish works assembled by Robert Geary for his "Lands of the Midnight Sun" concerts on June 23–24 is representative, there is treasure to be mined from this choral tradition.

The Sunday performance, at the Unitarian Church in Kensington, celebrated the presence of composer Pekka Kostiainen, who had clearly developed great rapport with each of the performing groups: the San Francisco Chamber Singers, Ancora, and Ensemble from the Piedmont Choirs.

The work that opened the program, "The Summer Night" (Sommarnatten), by Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928), a generation older than Kostiainen, displays many of the characteristics we might consider characteristically Finnish. Gently undulating ostinatos, transparent harmonies, deft interchanging of major and minor, episodes of fugal writing, and clear declamation of the text all create a nocturne of compelling beauty.

Finnish More Understandable Than English?

It's ironic that this work was more comprehensible, despite its Finnish text, than the English piece that followed, a setting by Swedish composer Arne Mellnäs of e.e. cummings' "Dream." A technical etude of challenging choral effects, "Dream" admirably displayed the virtuosity of the Chamber Singers, but reduced a fine poem to a mere compositional vehicle.

Kostiainen's works made up the second half of the concert. Two of them were drawn from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala (which provided Sibelius as well with inspiration for tone poems such as The Swan of Tuonela). "May Thou Not, O Noble Father" (Ellös nyt, hyvä isoni) is a creation poem sung by a character described as Orpheus-like. The sound of Ancora, an accomplished 16-voice youth choir, provided a sheen that complemented the pulsating harmonies of the lush setting. Their robust voices, especially in the altos, gave the music a folklike quality.

The other work from the Kalevala, performed by the San Francisco Chamber Singers, was a folktale, "Steadfast old Väinämöinen" (Vaka vanha Vuainämöinen). Scat-singing in close harmony by the upper parts imitates the sound of a folk zither (the kantele), while the lower parts sing the text in catchy rhythmic and melodic ostinatos. A haunting modal melody describes the hiding of the moon as the singers deftly negotiate the alliterative text ("Kätki kuun kumottamasta kirjarintahan kivehen . . ."). The Chamber Singers communicated the text convincingly (I'll waive judgment on Finnish diction!), underscoring the composer's penchant for humor and whimsy.

Kids Steal the Show

Kostiainen himself conducted the Chamber Singers in "I Am Singing Songs I Know" (Noita laulan, joita tiijän), a canonic treatment of a folklike tune (reminiscent of the "Slava" chorus from Boris Godunov) sung over an ostinato. The resulting chords produced ingratiating parallel harmonies, thanks to the impeccable intonation of the ensemble and the finely balanced timbres of the sections.

The 45 children of the Piedmont Choirs' Ensemble nearly stole the show with their performance of "Northern Lights" (Revontulet). They not only performed with precision, clarity, and lustrous tone, but did so while kneeling, leaning, nodding, shrieking, and even turning their backs to the audience. The singers were fully engaged with the vivid imagery of the text of this musically challenging work, reflecting both their delight with the work and the choral-ography.

The world premiere of Kostianinen's setting of eight Edward Lear limericks, There was . . ., commissioned for the children of the Piedmont Choirs, paled somewhat by comparison. There was humor aplenty in the text painting (slithering sequences describing a serpent, a fugal treatment of "quack-quack"). However, the settings eschew the galloping meter of the limerick, flattening out one of its most appealing and humorous features. Still, the congeniality of the performers matched their musicianship. This is a choir in which every singer connects with the piece and with the audience, all of the time.

Attention to the Whole

The one household name on the program, the Estonian Arvo Pärt, has piqued much of the curiosity that has uncovered many of the riches of Baltic and Scandinavian choral music. Geary conducted his Seven Magnificat Antiphons (the so-called "O" antiphons), with particular attention to the architecture of the whole work. Building up to the centerpiece of a climactic "O Key of David" (O Schlüssel Davids), the outer movements become a kind of a lyrical frame enclosing quasi-Medieval drones and parallel harmonies suggesting organum.

The vibrant tone of the Chamber Singers seemed to take priority over the German diction, as eliding vowels overwhelmed consonants. This was the only work in the concert in which spongy attacks compromised their characteristic precision.

This was a midsummer night's dream of a concert, a valedictory conclusion to each performing group's season. Credit should be given above all to Geary, not only for bringing such a rich repertoire to our attention, but also for his artistry in preparing children, youth, and professional adult musicians to perform it so effectively.

(Bruce Lamott is choral director of the Philharmonia Chorale and the Carmel Bach Festival. He is also an instructor in music and Western Civilization at San Francisco University and conducts choral classes in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Extension Program.)