Musica Vocale, directed by Arnold Epley, with guest ensemble the Kansas City Baroque Consortium (lead by cellist Trilla Ray-Carter) presented four vastly different multi-movement works in their woefully under-attended concert this past Sunday.  As volunteer choirs go, Musica Vocale put forth a wonderful concert of pieces that demand more attention.

Opening with Handel's Dixit Dominus was a welcome break from Messiah over-programming.  I found the piece to be, dare I say... more engaging than the Messiah; it's shorter, the slower portions are well-crafted without desire to get to "something fast," ends unexpectedly in a minor, and it's not often performed.  The choir's performance was above what I was expecting.  There were some problems with pronunciations not matching, timbral differences among members of a homogenous section, loss of energy in the quiet sections, and uncharacteristic vibrato but overall the choir sounded very good and the piece came off successfully especially in the final "fire and brimstone" chorus.  The marcato notes in a rest-heavy passage in the fifth movement set to "Conquassabit capita" [Shattered skulls] was a clever use of text-painting by Handel and the choir sounded fantastic in this section.  Jay Carter and Sarah Tannehill sounded resplendent in their arias.  The soli singers fared slightly worse as the blend and balance were not calibrated properly.  The KCBC, playing with Baroque grips, maintained the nimble lightness of the instrumental parts, but intonation greatly suffered in the exposed interludes.  When playing with the choir the pitch settled though.  Harpsichordist Rebecca Bell's touch was crisp and her embellishments were welcome additions.

Monteverdi's Lamenti d'Arianna started the second half.  With a reduced ensemble and Rebecca Bell again at the harpsichord, the choir conveyed the powerful text with intimacy.  The basses throughout sounded fantastic on their well-focused pedal pitches.  There was a warm, light quality that is a rare find in bass sections.  I felt the third movement "Dove, dove e la fede" could have benefitted from a brisker tempo. 

Paul Hindemith's Six Chansons for full choir showcased the kinder, gentler Hindemith.  As someone who has played his sonatas, orchestral and band pieces I was not familiar with his choral works aside from a cursory once over of Six Chansons' "Un Cygne" in music history class.  It is a shame because Six Chansons is a delightful set and the choir sounded best on this collection.  There are elements of Hindemithian harmony, but a lot of the edge and open sonorities present in his other works are tempered by the choral medium.  That isn't to say they are lacking in difficulty. "La Biche" opens with a scary unison, deftly handled by the choir.  "Un Cygne" perfectly conveys a swan on water with peeling chromatic lines.  "Puisque tout passé" was fun and fast, and the rhythmic play carried over into the tricky "Printemps."  "En Hiver" was lush and the sopranos sounded the best of the night in "Verger."

Ned Rorem is a self-admitted slave to the text.  This is very evident in his art songs as he won't repeat lines or words unless the original text does so.  His vast knowledge of prosody also services the text to its fullest extent.  His choral works are no exception.  I did not need my program to understand the text to From an Unknown Past.  Kudos to the choir and Maestro Epley on their excellent diction in this set.  Of the seven movements I found the bookends, "The Lover in Winter Plaineth" and "Crabbed Age and Youth" the most successful for different reasons.  The former's graceful tenor line immediately setup the wintery soundscape; the latter's vocal group alterations were fun and I was singing the soprano line for the rest of the day.  The no-longer-than-ten-second "Suspiria" was performed with perfect cheekiness.

I was pleased this ensemble pushed the degree of difficulty of repertoire for volunteer choir ensembles.  I wish I had heard them in a different venue however.  The intricate counterpoint of the Handel in particular got lost in the reverb of St. Elizabeth's, but it suited the Hindemith.  It certainly is a Catch-22.  With engaging programs like this, I'll be back to hear more.

REVIEW:
Musica Vocale:
Surprised by the Expected-Familiar and Overlooked
Sunday, March 21, 2010
St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church
75^th and Main, Kansas City, MO
www.musicavocale.org

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com