Art’s Corner

Whatever the circumstances were involved in the delay of Idyllwild Master Chorale’s regular spring concert presentation to nearly two months after the Easter season were quickly mitigated by last Saturday night’s performance in Lowman Concert Hall and in the chorale’s subsequent follow-up on Sunday at St. Hugh’s Episcopal Church’s Labyrinth area.

Artistic Director Dwight Holmes’s introductory remarks offered apologies of a sort prior to Saturday’s concert, which in the long run proved unnecessary, and despite any inconveniences, chiefly the lack of an adequate rehearsal time schedule, the evening proceeded without any hitches. A somewhat small audience was once again favored with the wondrous sound production that many had already come to expect from these forces.

The overall programmed theme, “Spring Forth: The Exquisite, Vibrant and Profound,” was stated first of all in the settings of Robert Frost poems from the seven in the “Frostiana” set by Randall Thompson. Both “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” conveyed the poet’s sense of the natural world, in fulfillment of the “vibrant” function, with Ed Hansen’s piano accompaniment portraying the snowy scene in the latter piece; while “Choose Something Like a Star” (in Frost’s original wording) offered up the “profound” in its deepest, contemplative sense.

There followed two Robert Evans Holmes’ arrangements of familiar hymn tunes: “Amazing Grace”, with a cello obbligato provided by Julianna Buffum Holmes and “Now the Day Is Over,” each presented in turn by solo tenors Eric Bolton and Larry Brook in addition to the choral background.

A series of folk verses set by Jean Berger from the Beloit (WI) Poetry Journal ensued, giving a lighter mood to the concert. The somewhat forceful “Snake Baked a Hoecake,” depicting various forms of competition in the animal kingdom, went over the best, while both “The Prune Song” and “The Frisco Whale” gave out only sporadic flashes of humor.

Somewhat in contrast, the Aaron Copland settings of “Old American Songs” seemed to provide a concentration on the spiritual effects afforded by “At the River” and “Long Time Ago” (the latter being especially reverent), while the frivolous nature of both “I Bought Me a Cat” and “Ching-A-Ring Chaw” was exploited to the fullest.

In between those two song sets, Ernest Siva’s arrangement of a Native American tune, “Cahuilla Lullaby (Coyote’s Waiting)” quieted the mood, and was a superior presentation of the required pianissimo tones by the chiefly female chorus.

Three works of composer Morten Lauridsen concluded the night’s program. The excerpted chorus “O nata lux” from the oratorio “Lux Aeterna,” punctiliously followed Holmes’s brief introduction; always a joy to hear in any setting, and (in the Sunday performance) in the clear perception of the open air, ever more impressive.

The composer’s setting of the “Prayer” by poet Dana Gioia proved equally inspirational, but the jewel of the evening was set into place by the interpretation of James Agee’s “Sure in This Shining Night,” taking the natural world’s metaphorical meaning even farther into contemplative study than was evinced in the Thompson/Frost works. A genial round of audience appreciation then followed, with wishes for no further delays than otherwise can be expected from these performers.