A Trio from Across the Globe

 

An odd combination to say the least.

In the 80s & 90s, I was dazzled by all of the hard-to-find-on-record cantatas and oratorios Telarc released, often bedecked with bright, colorful covers. They usually came from the great chorus master Robert Shaw from his time in Atlanta.

Nowadays, where most recordings from across the past century can be found within an instant upon the internets, I find these ASO & Chorus recordings don't please me as much.

The choral aspect is usually quite strong, even if I now find their singing a touch homogeneous. Moreso though, it is the anodyne orchestral palate, alongside the lack of taking chances on the part of Shaw, as the culprit for my feelings. There are just so many more interesting takes on this music, both from today and yesteryear. What was once difficult to find in the 90s, is now over-filled with splendid choices today.

Vaughan Williams' masterpiece Dona Nobis Pacem is a prime example. Where Beat! Beat! Drums! should be harried and explosive, I find Atlanta and Shaw merely polite. So too, Bartók's Cantata Profana is much more affecting under Hungarian conductor Sir Georg Solti.

Still, Robert Shaw knew how to draw out a solid choral sound, so these recordings should still have the ability to please a wide audience.

 

A review from 2005

A disk of lesser-known choral/orchestral works by great masters of composition are always a welcome addition, and this CD doesn't fail, perhaps giving these works new life and hopefully a new future of performances.

The Danish-born theologian Soren Kierkegaard and his prayers from various writings are the subject of Samuel Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard. The prayers are very personal, having to do with redemption and God's love, a keen insight to existentialism, and Barber's music expresses it well. While a unified whole, the 15+ minute work is divided into four separate prayers, each a style and a setting different from one another. Barber lets the listener know this is religious music by setting the opening text in chanting men's voices in an old church mode. But when the orchestra comes in, a 20th century declamatory statement changes the mood. Barber again looks to the past with simple contrapuntal choral writings. The second prayer is a supplicatory soprano solo sung by Carmen Pelton. A 20th century chanting chorus, reminiscent of thick Russian orthodox music opens the third prayer. Barber again brings back contrapuntalism and a great dissonant melody eventually dividing into two choruses. The final prayer begins with a wild instrumental modal dance section, and the end brings back the simple chant-like feel of the beginning, and the final, modern chorale ending with a positive outlook. Scored for orchestra, soprano, alto, and tenor soloists, and chorus, Barber's unique, and often intimate compositional styles, shine through here. The motives used throughout are enjoyable, the music creates great drama, and the work is quite inspired. It is very much spiritual and artistically pleasing.

Bartok's Cantata Profana is a different matter. It tells the story of nine sons who were taught nothing but to wander the forest and hunt stags. One day they wander too far into the enchanted part of the forest, only to be turned into stags themselves. Bartok sets this 20 minute work in three parts. The first showcases the double, sometimes antiphonal, chorus in thick imitation and dissonance. The chorus explains the back-story and relays the wandering in the forest, including a rather frenzied rhythmical jaunt. The second section is a feature for tenor and bass soloists, the tenor being the best-loved brother turned stag, and the bass being the father who went wandering looking for them. The father pleads with them, but as stags, they can't go home to their weeping mother. The short third section brings back themes and texts from the first and the second with tenor soloist exclamation. This music is interesting, not as folk-like as I expected, very modern sounding with dissonance leading the tonality. The soloists are required to sing some extreme ranges for the angst of the text and the chorus parts are difficult as well. The demonic chanting in the third section show the unusual harmonies and subject matter, not to mention musical virtuosity, of this very unusual, yet interesting choral work.

Unfortunately, Walt Whitman's poems about war and Vaughan Williams' music of the same vein, will probably never have little meaning for the public. The six movement Dona Nobis Pacem is the most stirring work on this disk, with various perspectives of war; texts by Walt Whitman primarily, some biblical texts, and an impassioned British speech. The Agnus Dei states the suffering and sacrifice of Christ, but ends with grant us peace. Beat! Beat the Drums! is a bombastic march about how war affects all citizens, not just those who fight. Reconciliation is a lush and somewhat haunting song on the tides of war, in a personal perspective. The Dirge for Two Veterans is a procession which builds to a great climax and dies away; the text visualizing a community honoring the passing of two local veterans. The Angel of Death and O Man Greatly Beloved is a magnum opus of contrasting moods, which erupts into a paean of "Glory to God in the Highest, and peace and goodwill to man". Even today, well after WWII when the music was written, certainly well after Walt Whitman's Civil War era's words, these performances of Dona Nobis Pacem is so personal, not a dry eye leaves the concert hall. The disk presents a moving and electrifying performance.

All the works on this disk, especially with the wide range of styles, is performed flawlessly. As always, Robert Shaw's choruses have clean and crisp diction, with good vocal technique. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra gives these works a Romantic fullness needed, and the soloists are fine as well. While together, the program seems odd, the works in themselves deserve more popularity. A nice addition to the choral/orchestral library.

 

Listen on YouTube

 

 

 

Works
Samuel Barber
    Prayers of Kierkegaard (11.58)
Béla Bartók
    Cantata Profana (8.10)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Dona Nobis Pacem (9.35)

Soloists
Carmen Pelton, soprano
Richard Clement, tenor
Nathan Gunn, baritone

Performers
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Robert Shaw, conductor

Label: Telarc
Year: 1998
Total Timing: 71.00

 

 

 

Find more Barber recordings HERE!

Find more Vaughan Williams recordings HERE!