Reviews

Virginia Chorale Sings the Music of Women Composers
May 12, 2019, Brock Theatre, Susan S. Goode Arts Center
Review by John Campbell

The Virginia Chorale closed their 35th Anniversary Season with a program titled “Pioneering Voices” honoring women composers. The choral pieces were new to us even though we have heard art songs of Fanny Mendelssohn, Undine Smith Moore and Lili Boulanger. The time span of the music ranged from c. 1100 to 2019 and the twenty-one members of the Chorale gave vivid performances.

We think of women composers of the Western canon as beginning with Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179). Interestingly the Oxford Dictionary of Music does not list her as a composer but only as an abbess, mystic and writer but later the entry reads “Wrote lyrical poetry from 1140, setting it to her music, much of it of strong individuality and complexity.” Soprano soloist Keaton Whitehurst delivered the O Veridissima virga beautifully, attributing all the individually listed joys of spring to the “Virgin Sweet.” The Chorale moved easily from Hildegard's thousand year old music to a modern setting of the same text by Janika Vandervelde (b. 1955) with drumming by Bobby Smith and with soloists soprano Elise Krepcho, tenor Christopher Burnett and bass John Tyndall in a setting of great vitality. Vandervelde is a composer and educator known for her feminist and ecological themes.

It was refreshing to see Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) under her own name in the program. She married Hensel when she was 24 and after she had already written a lot of music. We will never know what Fanny Mendelssohn was capable of as a composer if she had had advanced instruction and emotional support from her family. In the present we can try to make sure that women's voices are heard today. Fanny Mendelssohn's Lockung (Lure, temptation) is a lush, romantic setting. The poet is recalling a spring night while enjoying this spring night from his balcony. The poet of her song Schöne fremde offers a lovely reverie ending with a feeling of great future happiness. From verse to verse the passion increases. The last verse with its rushing rhythm speaks of the night's darkening splendor and the prospect of great future happiness.

Baroque composer Barbara Strozzi (1619-1664) was a singer and knowledgeable of the human voice. She set a secular text, Con le belle non ci vuol fretta, by her adoptive father Giulio Strozzi. The story: he loves Phyllis, who keeps the poor guy hanging on, hoping for an hour of bliss. Strozzi is known for her inventive rhythmic and harmonic settings. Bass Jessie Malgieri's passionate solo was a diamond set in a ring of choral beauty. In the Strozzi's sophisticated circle her being a female composer seems not to have been an issue.

Undine Smith Moore (incorrectly listed in the program as Undine Moore Smith) (1904-1989) is familiar to us because of her art songs. Her choral composition We Shall Walk Through the Valley was most beautiful. Each voice group enters separately building an elegant tower of sound, ending with “and we shall walk through the valley in peace.” Mrs. Moore taught at Virginia State College (now University) in Petersburg for 45 years. She also taught workshops and lectured across the U.S. and composed chamber pieces and symphonic music. She began studying piano at the age of seven and at the age of twenty became the first graduate of Fisk University to receive a scholarship to Juilliard, where she graduated cum laude in 1926.

Flutist Wayla Chambo was featured in a modern work by Abbie Betinis (b. 1980), To the Evening Star, a setting of poetry by William Blake. The women hum with the flute, setting the mood of last sunlight fading from the blue curtains of the sky. A pile-up of raging voices happens along the way to a long held note in unison which dies away but the flute continues. It is terrifically subtle new music.

Dipping back into history, we heard music by the French composer Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) who died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. With Stephen Coxe at the piano, the voices offered the reverberance of a cathedral in this setting of a poem by Armand Silvestre (1837-1901). In Renouveau (Renewal), with its piano reminiscent of Debussy, Kathryn Kelly speaks for Spring which arrives with a bright smile and dazzling lilies and roses. Soloists soprano Sarah Taylor and Randall Ball's gravelly deep tone, celebrated Spring's other gifts. Boulanger's exquisite music was my favorite of the entire program.

In the spirit of the evening's theme, "Pioneering Voices," next came the contemporary piece I Saw a Star by Laurel Christensen (b. 1986), winner of the Virginia Chorale Composition Competition for the 35th Anniversary season. She set a text by Virginia Woolf from her novel The Waves: “I saw a star riding through the clouds one night and I said to the star: 'Consume me.'” The musical setting was lovely and emphasized the strength of the Chorale's sweet spot.

This was followed by composer Alice Parker's nine-song cycle Songstream. Chorally it is a sweet, lyrical mush with crisp duo piano played by Rebecca Raydo with Dr. Coxe. The twenty-one voices built layer by layer on these basic tunes, obscuring the sung words. Texts were in the program but the theater was dark. Reading the text later I became aware again of how interesting and clever they are. Ms. Parker is a huge part of the American choral tradition, having composed over 500 songs.

Another 21st century piece, Twenty-first Century Woman by Joanna Forbes L'Estrange, closed the program. This feminist anthem with pop-gospel music and a message of change was released March 8, 2019. Backed by a jazzy combo of piano and drums, this polemic effectively speaks to our present situation.

As fine an idea as the theme of this evening was, the first half was really a history of missed opportunities for women. I would like to suggest that at this moment there are more living women composers than in all of history put together. My file folder of women composers keeps filling with new names. The patriarchy may object but I hope women will persist.