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The reverence of the Renaissance came to Kansas City Tuesday night courtesy of the Friends of Chamber Music through the stunning talents of the Tallis Scholars. With “Hymn to the Virgin: A Program for the Christmas Season,” this superb group of ten singers under Peter Phillips, brought together a masterful presentation of music from long ago and modern times through choral repertoire devoted to the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season.

The concert opened with Jan P. Sweenlick’s lively Hodie Christus natus est of 1619. The piece quickly impressed upon the audience the high standard by which these musicians perform. The Tallis Scholars displayed both their rhythmic exactness and immaculate intonation in the opening number. The work’s running melismatic lines were precise while the ensemble maintained a unity of sound through their perfectly tuned harmonies—a talent they would exhibit for the concert’s entirety.

John Taverner’s Magnificat à 5 followed. The chords in this piece prominently rang not only because of these well-trained voices’ naturally resonant qualities, but because every note in each chord was tuned so perfectly. As the piece progressed, the tenors and basses shared a lengthy polyphonic moment where the music seemed to unwind without end. The upper voices soon joined in this constant spinning of lines, resulting in what seemed to be one long, unending phrase that begged the question, “are they breathing at all?”

The fluid music of Robert White’s Tota pulcra es displayed the ensembles flawless sopranos. High note after high note rang through the cathedral as the women made numerous jumps to their highest register—all were impeccably executed with rich, resonant tone, sung completely without vibrato but with no trace whatsoever of tension or struggle. Needless to say, a smile was firmly plastered on my face in reverence for the talent of these singers.

In somewhat uncharacteristic Tallis Scholars style, the first half concluded with two modern compositions of Arvo Pärt: Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. Through the concert it became apparent that this ensemble allows the music speak to audiences by its own intrinsic elements, rather than adorning it with superfluous stylistic additions. Pärt’s pieces too were sung in this manner. Climatic moments felt climatic because the music demanded so, not because they were forced or manipulated from the ensemble. With this idea, the ensemble provided a gripping interpretation to a modern work—one more distant and restrained, consequently commanding our attention.

Because of this straightforward style, director Peter Phillips conducted the ensemble with a reserved simplicity, appropriate to the character of the music. His conducting patterns were not outlandish, but subtle. As the vocal lines swum through cathedral, Phillips delicately informed his immensely talented singers how each line should be shaped, presenting a refined, reverent performance in which the music took primary focus.

In the concert’s second half, the Tallis Scholars brought to Michael Praetorius’s Magnificat IV the full drama of the early German baroque. Here, plainchant alternated with choral sections that were characteristically Praetorius. By following the score’s original, true intentions, the Tallis Scholars accentuated the slight dramatic undertones of Praetorius’s Italian compositional influence.

Two settings of the Regina caeli followed Praetorius. One setting, again by English composer Robert White, reduced the choir to only five voices, letting the ensemble’s hard-working high voices take a well-deserved rest. Though their forces were cut in half, they still managed to supply a full sound and unified blend. The integrity of the music and the extremely professional standard by which the group performs was not in the least bit compromised. Cristóbal de Morales’ setting of the Regina caeli followed.

Like the Pärt that concluded the first half, another twentieth-century composition graced the latter second half, Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin. The choir bifurcated into two separate groups. As one choir sang in English, the other, being distanced a few feet behind them, hauntingly echoed Latin. This work, above others performed during the concert, demonstrated the ensemble’s ability to interestingly shape the music through dynamic control. Each phrase swelled and subsided as the ensemble brought to life the ancient English and Latin texts employed in Britten’s musical setting.

Concluding the concert was Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina’s Magnificat and Nunc dimittis. Though utilizing the same texts as the Pärt that ended the first half, this Palestrina setting brought the ensemble back to its familiar repertoire, where the aptly performed, double-choir composition once again affirmed this ensemble’s forte for the Renaissance style.

Overall, the excellently trained musicians of the Tallis Scholars lived up to the reputation that preceded them. The group’s finely tuned, disciplined specialty for performing Renaissance choral music (with a few modern works interspersed) left the audience with not only a historically accurate representation of the night’s works, but a sincere, uncomplicated one as well—where the music, intrinsically containing all the elements necessary to come to life, is simply coerced from the page by one conductor and ten beautiful voices.

REVIEW:
Friends of Chamber Music
Tallis Scholars
Hymn to the Virgin: A Program for the Christmas Season
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
416 West 12th St., Kansas City, MO
For more information, visit www.chambermusic.org

 Top Photo: Tallis Scholars (Photo by Eric Richmond)

By Tom Marks

Classical Contributor

Tom Marks holds a degree in vocal performance (B.M., summa cum laude) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is currently pursing a degree in musicology (M.M.), also from the UMKC Conservatory. A graduate teaching assistant, Tom can generally be found
rummaging through books in the UMKC library, exploring potential research topics. In addition to researching music, Tom is an active vocal performer (baritone) and has appeared in various venues throughout the Kansas City area. Recently, Tom has appeared in productions of the Kansas City Metro Opera, Bay View Summer Music Festival in Bay View, Michigan, and UMKC’s choral, musical theater, and opera department.

Outside of the conservatory, Tom is a music intern at the Village Presbyterian Church where he performs solo and choral vocal music and, on occasion, conducts the Village choir. Tom also writes program notes for the Bach Aria Soloists 2011–12 concert series. Future aspirations include a Ph.D. in musicology with an emphasis in early music, particularly of the late Renaissance and early baroque periods.