How do two choral directors, each with their own performance preferences, put together one cohesive and beautiful program for audiences to enjoy?
If you go
“Music for an Evening Ritual”
Where: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dekelboum Concert Hall, University of Maryland
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Info: 301-405-2787; claricesmithcenter.umd.edu
“We each select our own repertoire,” Nicole Aldrich, doctoral candidate and conductor of the University of Maryland’s University Chorale, said. “This semester I knew I wanted to do the Mozart ‘Solemn Vespers’, and Kelly [Butler, a master graduate student and co-conductor] knew she wanted to conduct something by Vaughan Williams. After she selected the ‘Five English Folk Songs’, the theme for the concert seemed to present itself and it was easy to choose the rest of the repertoire to fit the theme.” Appropriately then, “Evening Prayer … Bedtime Stories”, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Sunday by the 50-voice University Chorale at the campus’ Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The program combines music for Vespers, the traditional evening prayer service in the Christian church, with another common evening ritual, the sharing of bedtime stories.
R. Mather’s arrangement of A.M. Goodheart’s “A Vesper Hymn” opens the program in the traditional form of the Latin Rite of Vespers and highlights the “Magnificat,” the beautiful canticle of Mary from St. Luke’s Gospel.
“I was really happy when I discovered [‘Vesper Hymn’], Aldrich continued. “It is written from a child’s point of view and is more of a bedtime prayer. It’s a perfect piece to tie the whole program together.”
The U.Md. Chamber Orchestra joins the chorale onstage for Mozart’s “Solemn Vespers,” and also features a solo quartet in nearly every movement.
Noting, as Aldrich does that “there is something for everyone to enjoy in this concert,” the secular portion — the bedtime stories — include Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “Five English Folk Songs,” which recounts the life, lustiness and loneliness of a sailor.
John Rutter’s “Five Childhood Lyrics” focuses on lyrical melodies punctuated by moments of whimsy and humor.
Closing the program is Guido Lopez-Gavilan’s “El guayaboso” (The Liar.)
“[This] is one of the pieces I knew early on I wanted to include,” Aldrich said. “It’s a collection of tall tales [and] they’re a perfect inclusion in the ‘Bedtime Stories’ portion of the program.”
So, there it is. The Mozart is exquisite, the Rutter is youthful and fun, the Vaughn Williams is hauntingly beautiful and “The Liar” delights in the form of a fun Cuban dance.
“Audiences will hear a professional performance level of high-quality literature that’s outside the normal boundaries [and] done very, very well,” Edward Maclary, director of the university’s School of Music, said. “This is not the same old, same old.”
