The Evidence (2006). Frederic Himebaugh

Inspired by Lisa Hersch's post, I attended last night's San Francisco Choral Artists concert in Midtown Palo Alto. I was dubious for many reasons: I don't like choral music all that much (although I like vocal recitals), the idea of spending my Saturday night sitting on a church pew for two hours didn't appeal, one of the composers has multiple personas, another of the composers has publicly railed against a favorite Bogart/Lupino classic albeit dated film, the church was in my old neigborhood of eleven years which was both familiar and strange ("oh look, the shoe repair shop is now a brokerage office"), and finally, yesterday was my birthday (thanks to Laura et al for having festivities in the afternoon). But in the service of new American music, how could I not attend?

In fact, Magen Solomon, the artistic director, arranged an interesting and thoughtful program by dividing the works into seven discrete sets or themes: love, humanity, Japanese  poetry, of life and death, social conscience, birds, and God. Included were six premieres, other works by numerous living composers, and some older ones as well (though, I still don't like Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms). Not that I have the ear for it, but the singers performed well.

Two "bird" pieces were particularly entertaining. Crows in the Cornfield by Thomas Phillips described agrarian life from the point of view of crows. There is Nothing by Quincy Porter quoted this from Ogden Nash:

There is nothing in any religion
Which compels us to love the pigeon.

I Died for Beauty was a soft and effective setting of Emily Dickinson by Wayne Eastwood, who apparently specializes in setting her work.

Of the other serious compositions, two of opposite nature but with text from the 17th-century stood out. The first, A Chant for Peace composed by Theodore Morrison, was a vividly homphonic setting of text by the ex-communicated pantheist Spinoza. The other was The Evidence, by the blogosphere's own Fred Himebaugh, based on writings by English writer Thomas Traherne. Fred's blog, of course, is anything but sedate, showing much spirit, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But appropriately, his composition was equally lively. It made full use of voices via dynamics and especially across the group's sections. It also effectively highlighted certain idiosyncratic phrases:

Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, Patriarchs are
...
God, Angels, Men, Fowls, Beasts, and Fish enjoy
...
Of Wisdom, Goodness, Power, and Lov Divine

After the climactic ending, an audience member let out a "Yes!" The work was powerful -- the musical highlight of a successful evening.

Comments

[Iron Tongue]

So glad you enjoyed! I do need to get to the program. I had a crabby-making day yesterday and missed the Pacific Collegium in Berkeley.

"Interesting and thoughtful" are good descriptors for all of SFCA's programs, I think.