I had the opportunity to watch the Vancouver Chamber Choir perform at Shaughnessy Heights United Church on January 25, 2019. As a former choir singer, with experience in chamber and jazz ensembles, I have watched the Vancouver Chamber Choir perform many times; however, as a result of MUSC326’s fruitful discussions about musical texture, I came into this performance with a critical eye and curious mind. The group, on that evening, welcomed guest conductor Erick Lichte, who hails from Oregon and is a published composer and arranger. The theme of the show that evening was “Love and Mercy”, the idea being that sacred and secular works both share in the common theme of adoration and love. The theme was explained in relation to each song during the breaks in between works, and the music was woven together such that most of the sacred material was in the first half, and most of the secular work was located in the second half of the evening.
The first song the Choir sang was called Kyrie, composed by Einojuhani Rautavaara, and takes its text from the part of the mass asking for forgiveness from God. While the text was traditional, the arrangement was anything but that. The work featured the middle voices repeating “Kyrie eleison” utilizing dissonant harmonies and close intervals in order to create a constant pattern throughout the whole work and to emphasize the polyphonic texture of the work. This pattern allowed a smaller subset of higher sopranos to have a musical “conversation” with the basses, back and forth. Many of the concert’s songs involved this kind of grouping for musical effect; for example, the next song, Beati quorum remissæ arranged by Zachary Wadsworth did this as well. At first a small subset of the choir walked off-stage, and roughly half the choir was left on the stage. They began to sing, in English, the words of Psalm 32, in a minor key. All were singing different notes in a homophonic texture. After one verse, they would settle on a minor chord and hum, while the subset that had walked off stage sang Latin lyrics (of the Beatitudes) in a major key. This contrast made it seem as though these voices were coming from the heavens, and was fascinating not just from a listening standpoint, but from a visual one as well; the Vancouver Chamber Choir wanted to provide an interesting experience for all senses. Another instance in which the Choir provided this all-encompassing sensory experience was in the song A Drop In The Ocean composed by Eriks Esenvalds, a Latvian composer inspired by Mother Theresa. The song began with whistling, mimicking wind, after which the women of the choir came in all at different times (imitatively and polyphonically) chanting The Lord’s Prayer in Latin. From the wind and chanting came a single soprano soloist singing the Prayer of St. Francis by herself, while the men’s voices became prominent by singing low notes representing the “despair” and “darkness” present in the prayer.
While sacred works were a major focus of the evening, secular works about romantic love were also featured, and performed beautifully by the Vancouver Chamber Choir. One of my favourite choral composers, Eric Whitacre, was featured in the collection of secular works; his piece “A Boy and A Girl” was beautifully done by the Vancouver Chamber Choir. The song, like many Whitacre compositions, starts its verses with a homophonic texture, with all rhythms and words happening at the same time. Then, about halfway through each verse, all the voices danced on top of the words and exploded into a beautiful polyphonic texture. Another secular work that caught my attention was Love is Here to Stay by George Gershwin, composed by Vernon Duke, particularly poignant because this was the last song that George Gershwin wrote prior to his death in 1937. This particular work was a vocal transposition of jazz music, with bass singers representing bass guitars and colourful chords throughout.
Overall, this performance by the Vancouver Chamber Choir was beautifully structured and conducted wonderfully, and I was fortunate to attend. The show was also very accessible, such that even people who aren’t familiar with classical music could enjoy every aspect.