CORRALING THE DESERT CHORALE
                    In Intersections of Very Old and New Music 
                                              By Paul Hertelendy 
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of Aug. 6-13, 2010
                                                                  Vol. 12, No. 123         
         SANTA FE--- There are countless desert corrals in the Southwest. But as for the Desert Chorale, it is absolutely unique.
         Adding to the area’s intensive mid-summer mix of opera and chamber music is a first-rate a cappella chorus, the 28-year-old Desert Chorale, which just carried off an all-living-composers program with a sacred bent.
         Centerpiece was a world premiere by the University of Oregon Music Professor Robert Kyr, 57, who spends summers in seclusion composing at a remote New Mexico monastery. His new "Santa Fe vespers 1610," intending to reflect and honor Claudio Monteverdi's great "Vespers of 1610," also links Santa Fe of today with its founding four centuries back.
         Kyr selected certain of the Latin texts used by Monteverdi, skillfully compressed into a mere 13-minute duration. (Given the pace of modern life, the brevity should astonish no one.) He used skilful textual overlays and capped them with exultant outcries of "Laudate!" (Praise the Lord).  The work is further punctuated by high sopranos entering repeatedly, like angels singing.
         Kyr decorated his music with consonant harmonies, creating sacred music that is fervent, joyous and infectious.
         The unaccompanied Desert Chorale of 16 men and women rendered this in high spirits and very good intonation at the intimate Loretto Chapel on July 29. They are saving the Monteverdi vespers for an Aug. 13 concert to close the season.
         While none of the selections delved into dissonance, they furnished effective links to much older music. For instance the versatile American composer Michael McGlynn, 45, offered music with chant and modality, reminiscent of the earliest Western church music. Far more effective was his complex "Jerusalem (Our Happy Home)," with multiple vocal overlays and numerous distinct vocal parts (at least eight of them).
         The music of Arvo Pärt, 73, has instant impact. I find his constructions haunting. But characteristic voice-leading, with many brief side-trips to the next higher note in the major triad, as here in his Magnificat, is repeated too often to remain interesting. More intriguing were sacred pieces by his young Estonian countryman Umras Sisask, who used planetary motions as the main structural inspiration of his music.
         Greek Orthodox traditions are frequently reflected in the music of British composer John Tavener, 65, who produced the somber "Funeral Ikos."
         The Desert Chorale launched this program quite expertly. Its singing corps seems as well suited to solos as to ensemble blending. This is a rare virtuoso group indeed under Joshua Habermann, completing his third year as conductor and music director.
          Another time, bolder harmonies could be inserted  the sacred programs, such as some music of Michael Tippett. Even heavenly concerts can be dulled by the total absence of dissonance.
            Desert Chorale, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and other sites. Season finale Aug. 13. For info: 800-244-4011, or go online.

        ©Paul Hertelendy 2010
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           Paul Hertelendy has been covering the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with relish -- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly) will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.
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