MSVA Spring Concert: The Essence of Sound
In an ensemble such as Master Singers of Virginia, vocal sound is very, very important. Since the ensemble is predominantly an a cappella choir, the conductor chooses whether a blended sound or a full voice sound will be used in a particular piece. The two sounds are distinctly different. Blended sound challenges each singer to match vocal tone quality, balance volume with all in the ensemble, and sing with the same word inflections. Full voice allows the singers to sing with full solo vocal sound, balancing volume, and singing together rhythmically. Enjoy identifying each sound concept with this highly varied repertoire.
We sing two major works in this concert. The first, a French piece, is the Trois Chanson (Three Songs) by Claude Debussy. In the first song, Dieu Qu’il La Fait Bon Regarder, the lover expresses his adoration of his mistress. The second song, Dieu Qu’il La Fait Bon Regarder, the alto soloist sings about how they would rather stay warm in bed while everyone else is out enjoying May-time celebrations. Finally, song three is the poem, Yver Vous N’estes Qu’un Villain (Winter, you’re just a villain) is a denunciation of winter’s harsh cold.
The second extended composition is Five Hebrew Love Songs by American composer Eric Whitacre. The original instrumentation for this piece is written for SATB choir, piano, and solo violin. Whitacre describes the evolution of this beautiful set of love songs:
“In the spring of 1996, my great friend and brilliant violinist Friedemann Eichhorn invited me and my girlfriend-at-the-time Hila Plitmann (a soprano) to give a concert with him in his home city of Speyer, Germany. We had all met that year as students at the Juilliard School, and were inseparable. Because we were appearing as a band of traveling musicians, ‘Friedy’ asked me to write a set of troubadour songs for piano, violin and soprano. I asked Hila (who was born and raised in Jerusalem) to write me a few ‘postcards’ in her native tongue, and a few days later she presented me with these exquisite and delicate Hebrew poems. I set them while we vacationed in a small skiing village in the Swiss Alps, and we performed them for the first time a week later in Speyer.…” Each of the songs captures a moment that Hila and I shared together. Kalá Kallá (which means ‘light bride’) was a pun I came up with while she was first teaching me Hebrew. The bells at the beginning of Éyze Shéleg! are the exact pitches that awakened us each morning in Germany as they rang from a nearby cathedral”.
Additional blended piece include Open Thou Mine Eyes-Rutter, O Sacrum Convivium Arnesen, May it Be-Enye, and The Sound of Silence– L’Estrange.
Full voice selections include Jubilate Deo– Antognini, When the Sun Rises-Chilcott, and Elijah Rock-Hogan.
