CHANTICLEER OFFERS COURSE IN EVOLVING OF VOCALS, AND MORE
By Edward Ortiz
Sacramento Bee
D ec 23 2008
CA
It’s no simple thing to take an audience from the plainsong music of
the 15th century to the expansive sound of the 20th.
But the San Francisco-based vocal ensemble Chanticleer did just that
Sunday evening at the Mondavi Center at the University of California,
Davis.
And it did so in just under an hour.
That hour comprised the first half of Chanticleer’s two-hour program of
Christmas music at Mondavi. And there was so much given to the audience
during the first half that what followed, which included tried and true
Christmas favorites, seemed like icing on a very well-flavored cake.
The first part of the evening was structured in four segments,
each section’s music evolving chronologically. As things proceeded,
the development of vocal music over time was laid bare. Whereas
the music of the 15th century offered singular musical intensities
fit for trancelike states, the music of the 20th revealed a multi-
faceted openness in which the musical splendor had a large-canvas feel.
The evening started with 12 fresh-faced, intense singers giving "Come,
Come Emmanuel" a simple, unadorned patina. Here the ensemble entered
the hall four at a time, adding one musical line over another. It made
this work sound true to its 15th century origins as a processional
for French Franciscan nuns.
After a transcendent take on the 11th century "Corde Natus ex Parentis"
and a subtle turn on the 18th century hymn "Adeste Fidelis," the
singers got down to some new business.
Like that other prized San Francisco musical ensemble, the Kronos
Quartet, Chanticleer makes its biggest musical statements with
lesser-known works. Discovery is the paradigm.
One of the most sublime works Chanticleer performed was "Bazmutyunq"
by the Armenian monk, composer and enthnomusicologist Komitas "Gomidas"
Vartabed. Here the rich, inter- weaving harmonies, both secular and
liturgical, evoked the slow and somber settling of dense fog over a
dark, low-lying forest.
The electric and radiant soprano of newcomer Gregory Peebles was a
bold part of Pavel Chesnokov’s 20th century gem "My Soul Magnifies
the Lord."
Peebles’ soaring soprano was electrifying and was lovingly given a warm
foundation by the chorus. The unorthodox nature of the music came from
a healthy and tasty dose of chromatic singing for choir and soprano.
If there was any doubt as to this ensemble’s facility for channeling
the great charm of 20th century vocal music, it was dispelled on
John Tavener’s 1992 "Village Wedding." Here each musical line is
offered as a musical tableaux meant to describe a village wedding in
Greece. The music was low and slow, with an almost black-and-white
cinematic starkness.
Although the concert was by this time only half over, the price of
admission had already been earned.
How many times can that be said at a classical music concert?