Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) Presents English Masters: Britten & Howells in Review
Indianapolis Symphonic Choir (IN); Michael Davis, Guest Conductor; Ball State University Singers (IN); Alan L. Alder, Guest Conductor
Kamryn Yenser and Natalie Spruell, Sopranos; Holly Beasley Erickson, Mezzo-Soprano; Alejandro Reyna, Tenor; Patrick Pauloski, Baritone; David Duncan, Organ
Fort Hamilton High School Symphonic Band (NY); Thomas Oberle, Director
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
Sunday, May 29, 2022
One of the bright lights in the return of post-pandemic performing life in New York City is the return this spring of concerts presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY). For this Sunday of Memorial Weekend, DCINY offered a program entitled English Masters: Britten & Howells, including two sacred works, the Herbert Howells Requiem conducted by Michael Davis and the Benjamin Britten Festival Te Deum conducted by Alan L. Alder. Both combined the forces of the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir (IN) & Ball State University Singers (IN). These works are not heard as often as their stature in the canon deserves, so it was a gift to hear them in live concert.
DCINY also presented (unrelated to the “English masters” theme) an opening set of pieces from the Hamilton High School Symphonic Band, a fine launch to the concert. As their performances were something of a prelude to the English-themed works, they will be discussed separately later.
Herbert Howells (1892-1983) wrote his Requiem in 1932, though rather than publishing it right away he held it unpublished. He suffered the tragic loss of his son in 1935 (mistakenly thought to be the inspiration for the Requiem before dates were clarified), but in returning grief-stricken to composing, he used parts of it for another sacred work, Hymnus Paradisi in 1938. Howells only saw the publication of the Requiem in 1980, three years before his death, but it has since gained increasing admiration. Its text and music are full of profound suffering, offset by verses of great hope and faith, and as Michael Davis wrote in his program notes, the DCINY performance was “dedicated to the memories of all lost as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The combined choruses from Indiana gave the seven movements a sensitive rendering under Mr. Davis’s leadership. Not adhering to the traditional Catholic format, Howell’s movements travel from the contemplative, quasi-modal opening Salvator Mundi to the otherworldly In Paradisum, both sung admirably here. In between are five movements including Requiem Aeternam 1 and Requiem Aeternam 2, the famous Psalms 23 and 121, and the penultimate I heard a voice from heaven. The choruses navigated the challenging close harmonies and chromatic shifts of tonal direction with assuredness, unaccompanied except for the unobtrusive support of David Duncan on organ. Soloists soprano Natalie Spruell, mezzo Holly Beasley Erickson, and tenor Alejandro Reyna were luminous in the Psalm 23 (“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”), as was baritone Patrick Ploski in Psalm 121 (“I will lift up mine eyes”).
Howells was influenced by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and in this Requiem by Walford Davies, but he forged his own complex musical language laden with dissonance and ambiguity. The very closely entwined lines can emerge as heart-wrenching suspensions or simply as a muddle; fortunately for this choir (and the audience) the latter mishaps were rare. Mr. Davis and the singers are to be commended for taking on this challenge with such success.
The same combined choruses under the direction of conductor Alan L. Alder – and again with David Duncan, organist – sang the Festival Te Deum Op. 32 of Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). A much shorter work with just three movements flowing from one to the next, it followed the Howells beautifully to bring this devotional program to a powerful close. The first movement Praise to the Trinity opened with serenity, while the second, Praise of Christ, built to a rousing peak only to subside in the finale Prayers – all confidently projected by the combined choruses. Kamryn Yenser was the soprano soloist who, with a pure and youthful voice, sustained her lines with admirable ease (including some difficult leaping to a high register).
One would be remiss not to applaud the opening young performers of the day, the Fort Hamilton High School Symphonic Band (NY) led by conductor Thomas Oberle. They kicked off the evening with a punch in John Philip Sousa’s The Thunderer. It was a great way to shake out any nerves, test the acoustics, and grab the audience, and they proved to be in fine form.
Frank Erickson’s Air For Band, a classic of the repertoire, followed and was quite effective, as was Leonard Bernstein Slava! – A Concert Overture. Steven Reineke Fate of the Gods (2001) brought some mythological drama and was played with gusto.
The closer, an arrangement (by Jay Bocook) of Alan Menken’s The Little Mermaid, was a terrific closer. In the Under the Sea section, Mr. Oberle stepped aside to let the ensemble shine on their own, and shine they did. One imagines that he must have enjoyed it as much as the audience did. Kudos to all!
