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CHORAL MUSIC REVIEW
Schola Cantorum of St. Albert’s Priory Alta Sonora December 15, 2006
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In Search of Authenticity By Anna Carol Dudley
Cindy Beitmen, director of two choruses, brought them together for a Christmas celebration Friday night at the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church in Oakland. WAVE, the Women's Antique Vocal Ensemble, and the male Schola Cantorum of St. Albert's Priory, together and separately sang a program organized around various themes rather than strict chronologies. Most, but not all, of the repertory was from the Renaissance.
The men began the concert in procession, chanting an 11th century Salve Regina (Hail, holy Queen). They continued the Marian theme with 16th century pieces celebrating the Virgin Mother. Several numbers were grouped around references to Mary as a sacred rose. The friars sang the 15th century Ther is no rose of swych virtu, and WAVE sang the 20th century setting of the same text, in modern English (There Is No Rose of Such Virtue), by Benjamin Britten, from his A Ceremony of Carols (with piano accompaniment replacing the harp). Later in the program, John Joubert's setting of the same song was grouped, in a set for all the voices, with other modern arrangements of French and Basque nativity carols. The 16th century Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen (It is a rose blooming), sung by the combined choruses in four-part harmony, was followed by Brahms' organ piece built, more or less, on the same tune.
A group of similar pairings ended the first half. The tune of Resonet in laudibus (Praise resounds), often sung in a common-time setting, resembles the tune of Joseph, lieber Joseph mein (My dear Joseph) when set in triple time, as it was in two 14th and 15th century pieces, sung by the men and the women respectively. All joined in singing the 1609 setting of Joseph, and then WAVE performed an earlier 16th century setting, by Johann Walther.
An instrumental ensemble, playing mostly after intermission, contributed colorful accompaniments to several of the choral pieces, and performed a few instrumental sets, as well. The ensemble, called Alta Sonora, consists of four people playing nine Renaissance instruments — shawms, recorders, dulcian, and sackbut.
Highlights of the concert were WAVE's performance of two Spanish pieces: Gózate, Virgin sagrada (Rejoice, holy Virgin), in which the women's voices blended beautifully in close, contrapuntal, a cappella harmony, and Los coflades de la estleya (Brothers and sisters of the League of the Star). This piece is a lively account of ordinary people rushing to see the little Lord in the stable, and was enhanced by the playing of Alta Sonora.
High points of the Schola Cantorum performances included the color and depth they brought to pieces like Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen, their singing of Pietro Yon's Gesł Bambino (Baby Jesus) and, above all, their chanting. In the early days of the early music movement, we were told that period instruments and academic research would show us the authentic, original sound of the music. We have indeed learned a lot from those instruments and treatises. But there is also an authenticity that comes from the Dominican friars of St. Albert's Priory. As they process to a chant for Mary, as they sing in Latin, and in vernacular languages from varying periods of time, they are part of a centuries-long tradition of religious and musical practice. Many modern choruses are beginning to sing early music using the Latin pronunciation of the country of origin, which is an attempt at authenticity. St. Albert's brothers sing in American-accented, Italian Latin, the real language of the Roman Catholic Church in our country until relatively recently (when the Church largely replaced services in Latin with ones in the vernacular languages). I can't help noting, however, an inauthentic "translation" in the printed program. The men sang Gesł Bambino in the composer's 20th century Italian, but the familiar English version was used as a translation, which it is not. The Italian text is far more appropriate when grouped, as it was, with other songs about the baby Jesus ("Don't cry, baby; your mama rocks your cradle and gives you a kiss"). The concert ended on a nice traditional note. The audience joined in the singing of Angels we have heard on high, a French carol that is now sung in translation throughout English-speaking Christendom. (Anna Carol Dudley is a singer, teacher, member of the faculty of UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University lecturer emerita, and director emerita of the San Francisco Early Music Society's Baroque Music Workshop.)©2006 Anna Carol Dudley, all rights reserved |
