Highly textured harmonies that defy description

From the review by Rob Kennedy, CityNews

Photo: Peter Hislop

“The Song Company featuring The Oriana Chorale directed by Dan Walker, performed new and older works in the Albert Hall last night. They were “Transiens”, by Antony Pitts, a new 25-part choral motet, three shorts works and for the 50th anniversary of “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”, by Gavin Bryars, a choral version that was a world premiere.”

On Bryars: “[…] Moving around the hall, small groups of singers came in and out, creating a striking spatial effect. This aspect of the singing was not just well thought-out, it added so much to the performance aspect of the concert. As this work builds and builds, it cuts deeper into the listener. With Pitts conducting, he gave movement directions for the groups and drew an expressive warmth from every singer.

The highly textured harmonies in this piece were astounding as the groups and soloists moved around. As the old man on loop came in and out during the work. It was hard to tell if this was intentional or an issue with the audio, but it was a truly astounding experience.”

On “Transiens”: “[…] The glorious sound of this large choir came into their own during this work. While a contemporary piece, it held an ancient sound. Again, the singers crossed the floor for different parts. So full, rich and complex was this piece that it probably should be considered a major new Australian choral work.”

On the concert: “Well done to Antony Pitts and to every singer. Despite a slight hitch, this was a concert of the highest quality. The standing ovation proving that it was.”

Fine performances in a ‘feast for ear and eye’

Photo: Peter Hislop

From the review by Clinton White, CityNews

“WHEN poetry, music and visual art are put into the concert melting pot, success can be the only result.

This was especially so in “Text/ure”, in which a poem, ‘If I Could Have Given You A Note’, by award-winning Canberra poet, Sarah Rice, was given to six composers with Canberra connections. Each was commissioned to write a choral piece. […]

It was a risky venture, for it could have become something of a competition to see which was the best of the six compositions. But, with introductions given by the composers added to the performances of their works, embellished by the slideshow, any notion of a competition quickly became redundant. While all six were written for a capella singing, each was different and stylish, and stood firmly on their own merits.

The six compositions, in the order in which they were performed, were by Sally Greenaway, Judith Clingan, David Cassat, Dan Walker (who also is Oriana’s director), Quin Thomson and Phil Batterham. […]

Dan Walker and his Oriana Chorale gave fine performances of all works, with beautiful tonal structures, quite lovely balance, excellent entries and finishes, and well-controlled tempi and dynamics. […]

At the end of the concert, Sarah Rice described the experience as a ‘feast for ear and eye’. It certainly was, and it underscored, once again, the wealth of talent across all art forms we have in Canberra.”

Compelling choral interpretation

The Oriana Chorale conducted by Dan Walker: Seven Last Words, Chapel of the Annunciation, Canberra Girls' Grammar School, November 17, 2019. Photo: Peter HislopConductor Dan Walker led the group, including the orchestral ensemble, through three vastly different, difficult works. Two settings of the “Seven Last Words of Christ”, written 350 years apart, bookended Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s Sieben Magnificat-Antiphonen, written in 1988.

German composer Heinrich Schütz wrote his Die Sieben Worte Jesu Christi am Kreuz in 1645. It is similar in form to a cantata and includes sung narration by the Evangelist and a tenor soloist, playing the role of Jesus. The narrations, given by various sections of the choir, who also play the parts of the thieves on either side of Christ, provide the context for Christ’s words.

The Oriana Chorale sounded good from the get-go, with strong entries and mostly true pitch, with only an occasional entry with an almost imperceptible 'climbing up' to the note. Whilst the soloist, tenor Cody Christopher, did not have a particularly strong voice and started a little tentatively, he gained confidence quickly, giving a compelling interpretation of Christ’s ordeal at Golgotha.

The orchestral ensemble, led by violinist Katrina Vesala, was in superb tune and balance, providing excellent support to the choir, without ever dominating.

Pärt’s a cappella work takes the form of a prayer in seven sections. The excellent program notes say it is based on “antiphons to the Magnificat at Vespers on the seven evenings preceding Christmas Eve.”

Utilising Pärt’s trademark “tintinnabulations” (making the three notes of a triad sound like bells), this piece is dominated by very close and complex harmonies requiring considerable concentration, and vocal and muscular control, not to mention the need to stay on pitch. The Chorale did brilliantly on all counts, delivering a very moving performance.

Closing the program was Seven Last Words from the Cross, written in 1994 by the Scottish composer, James McMillan. Whilst drawing on some traditional Scottish influences – folk themes, airs and laments, and even remarkable bagpipe-like drones – and despite moments of hope, this is a profoundly sad piece. In the fifth movement, “I thirst”, one could imagine a desert with its expansive sparseness and loneliness.

In the final movement, “Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit”, there is a real sense of despondency and anguish as the choir sings those words with the strings very quietly underneath, then the voices fading away and the strings taking over to complete the work, slowly fading away with long silences between ever diminishing and dying notes finally and literally to nothing.

Walker drew a quite exceptional performance from the choir and ensemble in this work, conveying the inherent deep emotions with great sensitivity. After only about a year in Canberra, Walker has already made a significant contribution to Canberra’s music community. 

Walker comes through with a vibrant and fresh concert

CityNews

Music: Autumn Landscapes, Oriana Chorale. Fitters’ Workshop, May 25. 

Reviewed by IAN McLEAN

Oriana Chorale music director Dan Walker conducts Autumn Landscapes. Photo: Peter Hislop

THE concrete floor of the Fitters’ Workshop was strewn with autumn leaves and blankets amongst those leaves became the ground-level stage for “Autumn Landscapes”, a collection of music inspired by the impending winter, performed by the Oriana Chorale, one of Canberra’s leading a cappella choirs.

A brooding male hum created a fitting backing for the opening item, a setting by young Australian composer Joseph Twist of the Henry Lawson poem, “On the Night Train”.

There was a touch of intonation uncertainty early, but comfort levels were quickly reached and the resonance of the choir was solid and rich. Two Gustav Holst settings of English poems and two plaintive Samuel Barber pieces were well balanced throughout, excellent in dynamic contrast with clean, clear diction. The deep bass sound again set up a solid foundation that allowed sopranos, altos and tenors to soar beautifully above.

The comprehensive, printed program included biographical details of the composers as well as the text of the settings. These welcome inclusions certainly enhanced listening pleasure and provided an opportunity for greater understanding of the works.

Estonian composer Veljo Tormis began bracket 2 with his “Autumn Landscapes”. Again the choral sound was excellent with confident and true pitch and delicate balance and volume variation. Music director and concert conductor Dan Walker was particularly clear and definite and the choir responded to his meticulous approach with lovely phrasing and neat phrase endings.

The five, short pieces were powerful in their imagery. It was easy to feel the icy winds and the bleakness of the winter which no doubt prevails in Estonia. The sound that echoed around the hall as the final chord ended was terrific.

The choir spread out amongst the audience to create the sounds of animals and creatures that live in Kondalilla, a waterfall in a south-east Queensland rainforest. This was the first of two pieces by Australian composer Stephen Leek, now a resident of Canberra, and was eerily beautiful and well controlled despite the singers enjoying an element of intended phrasing freedom.

“Red Earth”, by contrast, speaks of the timelessness and fragility of the Olgas with the choir capturing the necessary sombre mood wonderfully. Bracket 2 ended back in Europe with the beauty and power of the “Northern Lights” portrayed by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo.

Besides being a passionate musical director Dan Walker is a gifted composer with commissions from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Gondwana.

Oriana Chorale at its Fitters’ Workshop performance. Photo: Peter Hislop

One of his works, “Midwinter”opened the final concert bracket. Again rich in imagery the lovely melodies of the text by poet Michael Dransfield featured the upper voices singing of the onset of winter then how the stars and planets above move in the sky oblivious to the earth’s seasons.

Finally, a beautifully sung song of colour, “The Bluebird” then “The Cloud”, a musical portrait of voices moving between and against each other, much as clouds move in the sky at different speeds.

An enthusiastic audience enjoyed this delightful hour of appealing music very much. Singing was disciplined with fine balance, lovely clarity of tone and an obvious joy in singing and mastering complex music. Well done to the Oriana Chorale and to Dan Walker, the new music director, for presenting such a vibrant and fresh concert.

Death and Redemption

Review: Chapel setting for heavenly voices

Music: Oriana Chorale and Polifemy (dir Robyn Mellor). Death & Redemption.
At the Chapel, Canberra Girls’ Grammar School, May 20 2018.
Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

“Death and Redemption” in full swing at the Canberra Girls' Grammar School chapel. Photo by Peter Hislop

THE human voice has the most subtle and profound qualities of any musical instrument, especially when heard in the intimate setting of a chapel.

Conductor, musician and director Robyn Mellor led the Oriana Chorale and the six members of Polifemy through songs of death and redemption in the Chapel at Canberra Girls’ Grammar School.

Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, known for his sacred music set his mass for the dead “Missa pro Defunctis” in 1554, and it is just as moving today as I imagine it was then. This setting had three sopranos up in the loft near the organ; they began the “Indroitus” in what could be described as heavenly voices from above. The whole chorale then entered as a response to the sopranos; it was a divine sound.

The nine movements of this mass covered the traditional chants of the Sanctus, Kyrie, Agnus Die and others, and it ends with a Requiescat. The Benedictus stood out for its colour and dynamic. The whole mass was sung with a balance of beautiful tone blending between sections with many clear and strong individual lines.  

After the interval, The Seven Penitential Psalms that are expressions of sin and repentance were sung in order to demonstrate the changes in musical styles from 1585 to 1620. Psalm 102, set by Orazio Vecchi, lifted the rafters of the chapel in a short burst of dynamic prayer that asks for forgiveness.

Psalm 38, set by Carlo Gesualdo, was a sensitive and flowing polyphonic work that showed how well the chorale could sing together in their quiet and loud dynamics. Giovanni Gabrieli, one of the most influential musicians of his time set Psalm 51 for six voices. Through this quiet and lamentful work that ebbs and flows with subtlety and passion, and then moves to a full and glorious harmonious rising unison was the standout piece for this reviewer.

Psalm 32, by Giovanna Croce, was set to a reduced text by Francesco Bembo. This unique work had the chorale divided up into many sections, which created a striking polyphony. Psalm 130, set by Orlando di Lasso began softly with all singers chanting as one. Throughout this lullaby-like work, it became an almost perfect combination of sound and visuals as the sun set behind the singers to its hushed conclusion.

Psalm 6, by Claudio Monteverdi and Psalm 143, by Melchior Frank followed, then the Psalm 96/98 “Sing to the Lord a New Song’’ by Claudio Monteverdi sprang into a joyful and bright setting. The full chorale came together as one and gave a sparkling performance of this strong and profound work. This concert left the audience clapping loudly even after the singers had left the stage.