The San Francisco Bach Choir came up with an unusual idea for its Sunday afternoon concert in Calvary Presbyterian Church: a program, titled "Aleluya! A Candlelight Christmas," devoted largely to Christmas music created mostly in Spain or Latin America. Director Corey Jamason gathered selections that turned out to be a mixed bag, something akin to the little girl with the curl: excellent and so-so, in about equal measure.
Jamason opened with four selections from the great Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Luis Victoria, followed by a pair of instrumental works from Alessandro Piccinini and Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde. We then heard two choral works of Gutierre Fernandez Hidalgo, before two more drab instrumental works, one by Girolamo Kapsberger and another by Salaverde. The first half closed with Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla's large setting of Deus in audiutorium meum intende (O God, make speed to save me), which contained hints of Latin American rhythms. This formed a major success of the afternoon.
The second half opened with a candlelight processional by the choir around the aisles, house lights cut. The processional included anonymous carols, one each from Venezuela and Chile, another from Spaniard Pedro Rimonte, and an unusual Kyrie from Juan Bautista. Then came a formal motet of Antonio de Salazar; two more anonymous Christmas pieces, one each from Mexico and Nicaragua; a guitar piece by Gaspar Sanz; and, finally, three anonymous Christmas pieces from Cuba. Accompaniments, where called for, were furnished by Baroque string instruments: two violins, viola, cello, and bass, plus guitar, theorbo (bass lute), and small organ.
Much of this music originated in the 16th century — that is, the late Renaissance. Hence, many of the purely liturgical compositions opened with an excerpt from Gregorian chant, followed by music that uses that as the motet's fundamental material. High Renaissance music is often gorgeous, though certain listeners may find the complexity wilting. The trick to enjoying it lies in not trying to dissect the parts as they flow along. When that works, the ethereal effect is ravishing.
Heuwell Tircuit is a composer, performer, and writer who was chief writer for Gramophone Japan and for 21 years a music reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle. He wrote previously for Chicago American and the Asahi Evening News.