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The Kansas City Chorale under the direction of Charles Bruffy sent some choral light into the darkness with their “Darkness and Light” concert at Redemptorist Church on Sunday afternoon.  The program’s theme of darkness and light included the presentation of several newer works as well as some familiar favorites.

The concert opened with Morten Lauridsen's arrangement of the well-known “Sure on the Shining Night” text from James Agee’s Description of Elysium.  This verse never fails in its moments of inspiration, known primarily through Samuel Barber’s solo song arrangement.  The text established the thematic dichotomy of this concert: stars in the night; light in the darkness; hope in the midst of despair.  The choral arrangement by Lauridsen offered the first chance for the seamless blend at which the Chorale excels.

Following was the stunning Shelter this Candle, composed in 2001 by Elizabeth Alexander, the Chorale was joined by Daniel Brums (oboe), Lisa Bergman (French horn), Tabitha Reist Steiner (harp), and Amy Harris (cello).  Using text from Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “To the Wife of a Sick Friend,” Alexander managed to sculpt light in sound, evoking the troubled winds of fate that threaten the flickering candle of life.  The piece begins with the instrumental quartet, building steadily with each instrument weaving in and out of the texture until suddenly, they are joined by the whispering chorus characterized as the threatening wind. The Chorale’s rock-steady technique and vocal unity made their entrance in this piece and the subsequent clear-toned vocalization some of the most exquisite moments of the concert.

Élévation Morceau, composed by Nick Norton set Baudelaire’s “Les fleurs du mal.” This incredibly complex choral structure for eight voices was a showpiece for the Chorale’s flexibility.

The winning piece of this years’ joint UMKC Conservatory-Kansas City Chorale composition competition was a new work on this concert. Gregory Gagnon's Continuities takes as its inspiration a Walt Whitman text from Sands at Seventy that focuses on the cycle of rebirth and continuity of life, reflected by the composition’s lush chord structure and sinuous vocal lines.

Imant Raminsh’s In the Night We Shall Go In featured the Chorale’s interpretive flexibility shifting through modes and tonalities in his setting of this poem by Pablo Neruda.  This piece also featured stunningly beautiful solos from Harris and Pamela Williamson at the piano. 

The aural basket of riches in the concert’s first half was filled to overflowing with Kansas City composer Jean Belmont Ford’s The Book of Pictures/Das Buch der Bilder, based on poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.  Ford’s text took advantage of both English and German texts, interweaving the two languages through “Prelude/Eingang” and “To Say for Going to Sleep/Zum Einschlafen zu Sagen.” Here, the Chorale’s skillful vocal blend may have done them a disservice. In a piece that relied rather heavily on the clarity of language as the text shifted back and forth between languages, the diction tended to lose out to the needs of tonal quality.

The concert’s second half featured Carlos Surinach’s “Noche oscura del alma” from Canciones del Alma, a beautiful setting of St. John’s "Dark Night of the Soul" and Michelle Roueché’s Lux Aeterna.  Lux Aeterna featured the women of the Chorale with a vocal solo by Pamela Williamson. Roueché’s composition suggested the appearance of the stars overcoming the darkness of the sky in a breathtaking piece of text-painting, bringing to mind the thematic opening of the concert with Sure on this Shinning Night.

Moses Hogan’s Let the Heaven Light Shine on Me made reference to that theme again, as did the upbeat choral arrangement by Mark Brymer of Roger Miller’s “Waiting for the Light to Shine” from Big River.

The climactic piece of the evening, however, and clearly the audience favorite, was Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei, a vocal arrangement of his Adagio for Strings. Here, the Chorale shone in its lithe and supple vocal lines, moving from breathless quiet to exquisite crescendos of emotional pain. 

No concert of light and darkness would be complete without This Light of Mine, sang as the Chorale exited to the back of the sanctuary, concluding an afternoon of unusual, thoughtful, and memorable aural experiences.

REVIEW:
Kansas City Chorale
Darkness and Light
Sunday, March 6, 2011 (Reviewed)
Redemptorist Church
3333 Broadway Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Ashbury Methodist
5400 W 75th St, Prairie Village, KS
For more information, visit www.kcchorale.org or call 816-235-6222.

By Sarah Young

Classical and Musical Theatre Contributor

Sarah Young is a freelance writer and performer in opera, theatre, choral and musical theatre. She has been seen locally with Wichita Grand Opera, Kansas City Symphony Chorus, Kansas City Civic Opera, Lawrence Community Theatre, Chestnut Fine Arts Center and in other local venues.  She studied voice at the University of Kansas, and has been trained in artist programs at Indiana University, Aspen Opera Theatre and the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.