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The Multi-Textured Chorus
A composer with a penchant for writing choral music could do a lot worse than having the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus at their disposal, a legacy of the orchestra's former music director and renowned choral conductor Robert Shaw. On a recent Telarc disc, Robert Spano, the orchestra's current music director, puts that chorus to impressive use in two world premiere recordings.
The Here and Now for orchestra, chorus, and a trio of soloists is the latest work in a mystical-Romantic vein by Christopher Theofanidis, a member of Juilliard's music faculty since 1999. Theofanidis came to prominence with Rainbow Body, a showpiece written in 2000. Just as that work is based on a mysterious "Eastern"-sounding chant by Hildegard von Bingen, The Here and Now uses texts by the 13th-century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi as a basis for some lush, exotically perfumed choral writing.
Although choral textures dominate the work's 13 movements, there is enough variety to keep it interesting, from the dance-like syncopations of "The one who pours is wilder than we" (somewhat reminiscent of Carmina Burana) to the martial "Drumsound rises," to the modal-tinged "The urgency of love," which sounds somewhat like the title music to a lost Cecil B. DeMille epic. But in general the composer avoids exotic clichés, and the work builds to an ecstatic conclusion.
In contrast to the mystical spirituality of Theofanidis, David Del Tredici's The Ride of Paul Revere is an extravagant, witty, and wonderfully over-the-top cantata based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Landlord's Tale" (better known by its subtitle, "Paul Revere's Ride"). Del Tredici, a former member of Juilliard's composition faculty, explains in the liner notes how he was moved to write this work after seeing the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks from his Greenwich Village home, not far from Ground Zero. The patriotic sentiments he felt at the time led him to Longfellow's poem, which recounts the midnight ride that set the American Revolution in motion. Del Tredici serves up galloping rhythms and anthem-like melodies, which are punctuated by the sounds of sirens, an anvil, a whip, birdcalls, and a wind machine. The work's climactic moment involves a musical "battle" between "Yankee Doodle" and "Rule Britannia."
Rounding out the disc is an affecting performance of the "Lamentation" portion of Bernstein's "Jeremiah" Symphony, with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby singing the mournful solo.
A Fifth and a Fivesome From a Young Composer
The composer Jay Greenberg was just 10 when he enrolled in Juilliard's Pre-College Division on a full scholarship. Now at the ripe age of 14 (and no longer at Juilliard), he has a major management contract with IMG Artists and a recording deal with Sony BMG. Some critics have questioned whether this attention is too much too soon; they argue that he should be allowed to develop at his own pace without such external pressures.
Perhaps that is true, but as one hears in his Fifth Symphony, Greenberg's talent is more than hype; he has a strong sense of structure and a confident feeling for orchestral color. The symphony's dark, moody first movement is built on what sounds like an ominous snippet of the Jaws theme. A sardonic second movement recalls a Shostakovich scherzo, while the slow third movement is, as Greenberg points out in his liner note, based on an exponential mathematical function. The finale is bold and brash with hints of Bartok, Hindemith, and Britten.
The ghost of Bartok also pops up in the String Quintet, an elegant three-movement work, here performed by the Juilliard String Quartet and fellow faculty member, cellist Darrett Adkins, in which Greenberg shows his skill at balancing the interplay of string voices. But whatever the influences are at work, an emerging personal voice shines through as well, suggesting that Greenberg is very much his own young man.
Mention this column at the Juilliard Bookstore to receive a 5-percent discount on this month's featured recordings. (In-store purchases only.)
Brian Wise is a producer at WNYC radio and writes about music for The New York Times, Time Out New York, Opera News, and other publications.
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