Chamber Singers End Year on High Note

Author: Laura Rockefeller

As the lights dimmed in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall on Saturday night, an expectant hush fell over the audience, but for a few moments the eager listeners were kept in suspense.
Then, from the back of the room, the haunting notes of John Tavener's "Song for Athene" drifted over the heads of the audience and swelled to fill the vast space.
So began the Middlebury College Chamber Singers annual spring concert, entitled "A Choral Potpourri: Music from the 17th to the 20th Century." It truly was a potpourri of styles.
The choir showed its versatility in performing a repertoire that ranged from the sublime sacred music of Anton Bruckner, to secular pieces such as Ralph Vaughan Williams's whimsical "Over Hill, Over Dale."
One of the highlights of the concert was the performance of Maurice DuruflÈ's gorgeous "Quatre motets sur des thËmes GrÈgoriens," which is remarkable for its simplicity and elegance.
Throughout the four motets, the sopranos expressed a purity and clarity that seemed almost ethereal as they sustained the chant melody while the other parts came in and out, adding a wonderful depth and richness to the piece.
The singers performed with equal feeling and power the reflective and longing motet "Ubi Caritas," based on the liturgy for Maundy Thursday, and the exultant and joyful "Tu es Petrus," which takes its text from the Feast of St. Peter's Chains.
The four voice parts blended beautifully and came in and out seamlessly as they echoed and complimented each other.
The pace of the concert was changed with American composer Morten Lauridsen's more light-hearted "Les Chansons des Roses." The choir really seemed to enjoy singing the lilting melody and beautiful poetry of the piece, which is a setting of the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.
The contrast in dynamics and mood within the piece as a whole, and within the individual movements, especially "De ton rÍve trop plein," was very striking and masterfully executed.
Then the imitation and echoing of the soprano and tenor parts during "La rose complËte" drew out the mysterious and almost nostalgic quality of the piece.
The audience seemed to particularly take pleasure in the performance of Ralph Vaughn Williams's setting of the traditional favorite "Greensleeves," which the Chamber Singers presented as part of their selection from the British choral tradition. The beautiful soprano descent added by Vaughn Williams was enchanting.
The way that the melody passed from the men to the women seemed to create a dialogue within the piece and highlighted the bittersweet feeling of yearning that pervades the song.
The parts flowed into each other with a surprising correspondence of depth and tenderness in the singing of both men and women.
It was clear that the audience had enjoyed the evening by the enthusiastic applause that greeted the conclusion of the concert.
The audience was so persistent that The Singers performed one encore, Healey Willan's "Rise up My Love," which conductor Jeff Rehbach called a favorite of the group. It is easy to understand why.
The piece was disarmingly simple, but lovely and warm.
The Chamber Singers next performance will be their Annual Commencement Weekend Concert on Friday, May 23 at 8 pm in the CFA Concert Hall.