American composer Stephen Paulus died in October 2014, more than a year
after suffering a major stroke. His catalogue of compositions features ten
operas and a large number of orchestral works, but it is perhaps in the
field of choral music that he will be most remembered. His accessible, tonal
idiom makes him a favourite with choral singers and audiences alike,
especially in the United States.
Prayers and Remembrances, the major work in this collection, was
commissioned jointly by the performers on this disc and by Mrs Dorothy
Vanek. It is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Vanek's husband, as well as to
friends of the couple who lost their lives in the World Trade Centre
atrocity of 2001. It was first performed on the tenth anniversary of that
event. I cling to the feeling that any attempt to associate a work of art
with such an occurrence is almost inevitably doomed to failure. The initial
event is so gross as to defy reason, and though words might begin to explain
mankind's reaction - anger, sadness, acceptance, resignation - the issue is
far too complex to be satisfactorily defined. It is in that spirit that it
is important to read and understand the composer's aims in creating this
piece. He searched for texts that were "spiritual but not necessarily
religious ... that would highlight common beliefs across distinct religious
traditions." He wanted to express "hope, light and a future ... the hardest
thing to accept in any tragedy".
The work is made up of seven choral songs with orchestral accompaniment. A
solo soprano contributes to one song, and a solo quartet to the last of the
seven. The texts are drawn from sources that include Henry Vaughan, William
Blake, a traditional Navajo prayer and the Prophet Mohammed. The theme of
loss is frequently present, but subjects such as the beauty of the natural
world evoke positive feelings and hope for the future. Another of the
composer's concerns, as in all his choral works, was that the words should
come through clearly. In this he was very successful, with careful writing
for the orchestra and a fair amount of unison singing from the choir. The
music is sumptuously conceived and scored, with many moments of striking
beauty. Almost without interruption, however, the atmosphere of the work is
one of unalloyed sweetness. Sweetness is not, I think, a prerequisite of
hope: there are other ways, musical and literary of expressing that. A
second aspect that troubles this listener is that in spite of the wide
variety of textual sources, the music rather tends to sound the same.
Nunc dimittis, sung in English, begins in more austere fashion,
with just two voices, but soon reverts to richly scored choral writing, if a
little more adventurous harmonically than the major work. A certain mystical
atmosphere in the closing doxology is very affecting, though the dissonances
in the extended "Amens" seem difficult to justify.
The
Incomprehensible, a setting of a poem by Isaac Watts, was composed for
the performers on this disc. The accompaniment is provided by oboe and harp,
and highly effective it is. This is a cheerful piece that nonetheless
continues the theme of the collection, in that the poem deals with the
mortal aspiration to attain Heaven.
I Have Called You By Name is a
seven-minute unaccompanied setting of a passage from Isaiah. The booklet
refers to the composer's "unique harmonic idiom", rather overstating the
case in my view. This is a successful marriage of text and music, though at
the very end the composer's sincerity strays perilously close to
sentimentality.
Little Elegy is a setting of a poem of ten very
short lines by Elinor Wylie that deals with the subject of loss. Paulus's
setting lasts some three and half minutes, but in that time he delivers the
text three times, after which he repeats one more time the poem's first two
lines "Withouten you/No rose can grow". There are many lovely sounds in this
short work, as there are throughout the collection, but the music does have
a kind of "all-purpose" feel, as if one means of expression will do for all.
This is partly to do, quite clearly, with the nature of the texts chosen for
these pieces, and it is undeniable that when encountered separately they
create their own sound-world and satisfy the listener.
The final piece,
When Music Sounds, is a setting of Walter de la
Mare. The poem deals, in the poet's customary sober fashion, with music's
power to ... to what? Not, I think, to "soothe and heal" as we read in Peter
Rutenberg's adulatory booklet note, but something grander than that, to
evoke all that is beautiful and to be celebrated in the world, including
ourselves as we "hasten along". Paulus's three-in-a-bar setting is very easy
on the ear, but in this case I do feel that he was not up to the job of
finding the notes needed to convey these particular words.
Listeners who already admire the music of Stephen Paulus, or who react
favourably to the great and the not so good in this particular field of
choral music - Rutter, Lauridsen, Gjeilo, Clausen, Busto, to name but a very
few - will not be disappointed with this collection. Choral conductors will
find here several short pieces that will bring pleasure to singers and
audiences alike. Listeners at home will probably prefer to dip in and sample
one or two pieces at a time, rather than listening to the whole disc in a
single sitting. They will be rewarded by outstanding performances from True
Concord Voices and Orchestra, a group with many young people in its ranks.
Conductor Eric Holtan has just the right feeling for this music, and indeed,
it is difficult to imagine these works better performed. The recording is
exemplary, and all sung texts are provided.
William Hedley
Previous review:
John Quinn
