It was standing room only at St. Matthews yesterday for the first of two scheduled concerts by the entire Westminster Choir (women and men) under the direction of their new Director, Joe Miller. Their “Les Angelus” program, with just the women, has already been heard. But before I can blog about that one, I’ll have to wait for the ladies’ second outing, due to an unfortunate ticket mixup.
There are some exciting things going on in the choral world, and one of the world’s hotbeds of choral innovation and composition is to be found in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. Miller is in close touch with these currents (scroll down to “Miller on the Move,” below). Thus the program opened with music from that part of the world – beginning with a sweet Latvian folk-hymn in praise of singing, plus impressive settings of Marian texts by emerging Finnish musician Jaako Mäntyjärvi and Norwegian composer Trond Kverno.
The singers then went off on a brief Brahms detour, delivering his Three Songs, Op. 42. Brahms was a choral conductor for awhile, and left us some of the romantic era’s richest choral treasure. Then it was back to the Baltic bunch with Curse Upon Iron, a gripping number by modern Estonian master Veljo Tormis. It sets an ancient Finnish epic poem deploring the use of iron (the height of defense technology back then) for swords and spears and other destructive purposes. This substantial piece rivets the listener’s attention with fabulous primeval vocal effects: droning, keening wails, chugging chants and striking solos. It seems even the ancient Nordic tribes had their pacifists.
The program rolled to its close with My Flight for Heaven – a prizewinning piece by Blake R. Henson, a Westminster student and member of the choir (he got a well-deserved solo bow). Then came Sleep, from Eric Whitacre, perhaps America’s hottest choral composer these days. The obligatory bit of Americana came with a touching arrangement of Stephen Foster’s Nelly Bly. The program ended with a funny little confection called The Farewell Overture that said goodbye to us in more ways than you could count. But it wasn’t quite the end: we got a gospel-tinged rendition of This Little Light of Mine as a delightful encore.
Are they better or worse than before? Well, neither. What they are, under their “new Joe,” is simply … different. This lucky stiff has been entrusted with what’s thought to be the finest college choir in the known universe – so that they’re going to sound great is a given. They still claim the finest array of voices of any choir in the business; they can make any possible kind of choral sound – and beautifully. From pristine purity to earthy choral roars, these guys can do it all. Miller’s only had them for a year — but there seems to be a new edge, a new urgency, to their singing now. You could see (and hear) how these peerless young vocal artists respond to him – as well as the obvious joy he takes in making music with them. I think we’ve got a really great match going here.
And I’m not the only one who’s convinced of that. The churchful of very happy choral fans who heard them will certainly back me up. Besides them, Maestro Flummerfelt was seen leaving the choir’s waiting room after the concert was over – and I’d bet my bottom dollar that the huge smile on his face was one of vast pride and joy in his former charges – plus the certain knowledge that they remain in very good hands.
