Modernist Music at Christ Church
VICTORIA KINGHAM
Marcio Da Silva seems to have boundless ambition for his choir and orchestra – so much so that for this particular concert he strayed a long way from his baroque comfort zone to direct the music of an Estonian, an Austrian-American (both twentieth century) and a Norwegian (twenty-first century).
Watching him conduct the Hastings Philharmonic Choir a couple of weeks ago brought home to me just how skilled he is at bringing out the best in musicians. The choir is open to anyone who can manage sustained singing; not all of them read music or have vocal training. They are well rehearsed by his singing phrases to them, in the correct pitch, until they are sure of their parts.
The Arvo Part Berliner Mass isn’t easy; it’s full of very close harmonies, not all of which are played in the orchestral part, and some of which are unconventional or unexpected. It’s one of the few modern Masses which still has a specific liturgical purpose besides being a concert performance. It is beautiful and searing, and demands from the singers close attention and correctness. Gjeilo’s Sunrise Mass is perhaps an easier piece to sing; one member of the choir described it as having some ‘cheesy’ tunes, and listening to it, I could hear what he meant. Gjeilo himself has said, in fact, that he was inspired by film scores. Conversely, compositions of a century ago from people like Mahler and Rachmaninov, inspired future film music. The Schoenberg orchestral piece, Verklaerte Nacht [Transfigured Night], is emotive, evocative, and dramatic. It’s a wonderful piece for a small orchestra, and was played well by the Hastings Philharmonic, with evident pleasure.
One advantage of the particular acoustic in Christ Church, and the relatively small size of the orchestra, is that the choral and solo parts don’t get obscured by the volume of the instruments. I’ve sometimes been at full orchestral/choral performances of Beethoven or Verdi (for example) where the orchestra overwhelms the piece, and the choir part-despite its beauty and complexity- becomes almost incidental. But in this setting, the balance was good and both choir and orchestra were heard to their best advantage. It was an evening to remember, augmented by the joy of the performers and the enthusiasm of the audience.
Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Marcio da Silva, sang the Northern Lights on Saturday 5 July at Christ Church, Silchester Road, St Leonards.
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