June Issue, No. 2
ON THE FRINGE AT THE 2006 BERKELEY EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
Celeste Winant
The 2006 Berkeley Early Music Festival and Exhibition, June 4-11, 2006, offers
aficionados and novel visitors a unique opportunity to experience a diverse array
of music. The Berkeley Festival occurs in and around the UC Berkeley campus,
every even-numbered year in June. It features four events: a main performance
series sponsored by Cal Performances and the SF Early Music Society (SFEMS); a
conference sponsored by Early Music America; an exhibition for instrument and
music vendors; and a Fringe series – a wide array of events produced by
participating choirs and promoted by SFEMS in conjunction with the main stage series.
There are three particularly unique benefits of attending the Fringe. First, nowhere
can one find as adventurous an exploration of all corners of that wide terrain we
loosely call “early music”. Second, the Fringe is a true melting pot – an equal
playing field for the classical virtuoso, the renaissance faire denizen, the university
musicology scholar, and the amateur up-and-comer. Finally, the Fringe concerts
are affordable, with admission averaging $10-15, (often discount tickets are under
$10), and many will offer admission on a sliding scale.
Of the dozen or so choral performances featured at the Fringe, a behind-the-
scenes look at three of the groups highlights the defining elements of the power
and purpose of early sacred vocal music.
The sixteen-voice professional a capella ensemble, Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (AVE),
directed by Jonathan Dimmock, will perform 666: Music for the Apocalypse on
Tuesday, June 6th (6-6-06!). AVE features some of the area’s best early music
vocalists and has rapidly earned critical acclaim for its nuanced interpretation of
Renaissance polyphony. Director Dimmock believes firmly in the emotional power
derived from the aesthetic of this music and lauds the spiritual qualities that
transcend the literal Christian context of the settings. With that in mind, AVE
weaves seamless performances, incorporating multi-media elements such as
poetry and visual art, and the creative placement of small ensembles in different
locations of the space. For this performance, AVE pairs illustrations from the 14th
century manuscript, The Cloister’s Apocalypse, with complementary motet and
plainchant settings from the Book of Revelations. The artists in this group are
selected not only for their skill, but for their passion and love of this music,
mirroring Dimmock’s own enthusiasm, which increases the joy and care invested
in the accelerated rehearsal process.
The following day, Wednesday, June 7th, Vox Populi Vocal Ensemble presents
Gate of the Morning: Sacred Music of Guillaume Dufay (15th century), featuring
the epochal Nuper rosarum flores motets in praise of the Virgin Mary, and Missa
Ave Regina Coelorum. Vox Populi was formed in 1998 by UC Berkeley graduate
students hungry for a democratic choral process through which to explore the
music of the Renaissance. Vox Populi rehearsals feel like part grad student
seminar, part choral workshop, ripe with spirited discussions spanning all
aspects of the interpretation of this music. This process leads to performances
which reflect the cooperative spirit of the group - all artists singing through each
other, without a director.
On Saturday, June 10th, the increasingly acclaimed vocal and instrumental
soloists of the Oakland-based Pacific Collegium, directed by Christopher Kula,
perform the sumptuous Grands Motets of François Couperin, composed during
the reign of Louis XIV of France. Kula, well-versed in both Western and Eastern
Christian musical traditions, formed the Pacific Collegium in 2004 to present
virtuosic sacred vocal literature in its intended setting, upholding a vast musical
tradition which is losing support in today’s budget-strapped churches and spiritual
centers. In addition to a full schedule of public concerts, the Pacific Collegium
sings regularly for the 1962-Rite Tridentine Latin Mass at St. Margaret Mary in
Oakland, providing liturgical Gregorian chant as well as polyphonic motets and
Mass Ordinary settings.
These three groups are but a sample of the offerings scheduled at the Fringe. I
strongly encourage you to head over to the Southside of Berkeley and enjoy a
musical array unlike any other. To learn more about these groups, visit
http://www.sfems.org/fringe2006.htm
CD REVIEW OF SCHOLA CANTORUM SAN FRANCISCO - PILGRIMAGE
Kevin Fox
Local musicians are familiar with Schola Cantorum San Francisco and their
director, John Renke, originally affiliated with the Shrine of St. Francis in North
Beach. The Schola is known for having high quality voices and musicians. For
those not as familiar with the Schola, their 1999 recording, Pilgrimage, is a good
place to start.
The album has a variety of pieces from different musical periods and Christian
traditions. Interspersed throughout the album are segments of Costanzo Porta’s
Missa Tertii Toni. I had never heard this mass previously. I like the interspersion
idea and the mass itself, but didn’t find it to be the highlight of the album. There
were other pieces that were more engaging and in which it seemed the choir was
more engaged.
The first track is an arrangement of Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. Put this in
your CD changer, and you may confuse it, if briefly, for something like a recording
of the well-known Frank Martin Mass. Its element of mystery, with an unwavering
sustained middle D tone, makes a perfect opening for the album. The song’s
simplicity provides for a moving interpretation of this American tune, and a great
introduction for the “pilgrimage” theme.
While I like the variety on the album, I am not in the camp that thinks the world
needs another recording of things like Palestrina’s Tu Es Petrus and Sicut Cervus,
Bruckner’s Locus Iste, or Durufle’s Ubi Caritas. That being said, it is perhaps
because those songs are so frequently done and so familiar to these singers that
they exhibited absolute command of the pieces. Locus Iste had exceptional
ensemble and dynamic control. The dynamic contrast on the recapitulation was
especially refreshing and saved it from being yet another drab recording of the
Bruckner. Ubi Caritas was also unique in that the men sing more of the chant
before the motet begins, instead of the typical incipit. The presence of Sicut
Cervus was explained in the liner notes, tying it to the “pilgrimage” idea, but it
wasn’t enough reason for me to feel like I needed to hear it yet again.
Also on the CD are some lesser-known works (at least relative to those above),
including di Lasso’s Exaudi Domine, Gerald Near’s Prayer of St. Francis, Rutter’s
God Be in My Head, Bairstow’s I Sat Down, and Benedicat Nos by Calvert Shenk. I
was pleased to hear the Bairstow; it’s a beautiful piece in which the Schola deftly
maneuvers through the harmonic changes, singing with sensitivity and
expression. I personally don’t get tired of hearing Stanford’s Beati Quorum Via if
it’s well done, and the Schola is one of the few American choirs I know of to record
it. They put a breath after the first “Beati”, which I found to be a bit jarring to the
flow of the piece, but it lends a unique twist to something we may have all heard on
recordings of English choirs. Both the Rutter and the Shenk piece are nice
additions, worth consideration by choir directors.
The album concludes with Poulenc’s St. Francis prayers. The work is well-known
nd widely recorded, but for the choir originating from the Shrine of St. Francis,
they can get away with having put out yet another recording of the work. The
pronunciation and phrasing are excellent. Most who have sung it do not tire of
hearing it.
The engineering is well done, with local experts Lolly Lewis and Don Osaske
behind the production. It can be difficult to get a good sound and good takes, and I
can’t imagine when they could have recorded this to not get traffic noise in North
Beach, but the Schola’s professionalism prevailed. On the whole, the singing is
excellent. I didn’t always agree with the tuning scheme of the men – baritones and
basses in particular. Nonetheless, Schola Cantorum San Francisco shows why it
is among the best, if not the best liturgically based choir in the Bay Area. Their on-
again, off-again affiliation with the Shrine has put the choir’s mere existence in
question frequently, but as they have recently incorporated as a separate entity, it
appears this fine choir will be preserved.
Visit Schola Cantorum San Francisco at www.scholasf.org
SINGING TO MYSELF
The Modern Cowboy
I’m fulfilling my boyhood fantasy. No, I’m not dating Michelle Peppers - the hottest
girl in my 6th grade history class. Instead, I have become a cowboy. Yes, that’s
right, a gun-totin’, canteen-carrying, bottomless-chaps-wearin’ cowboy.
O.K. so I don’t wear bottomless chaps (except on Thursday nights), or carry a
canteen, or tote a gun, but I am a professional singer, so please excuse me while I
blow smoke up my own skirt.
Professional singers are the modern cowboys. We are the hired guns of musical
society. Where cowboys would come in and save a village from some masked
banditos who’d pillage, plunder, and destroy the town, professional singers are
hired to come in and save villages in their time of musical need.
We ride in from the horizon on the ever-faithful BART, with our pencils in hand,
water bottles at our sides, warmed up, and ready to hit any note that dare show its
face on a page. Appreciated and adored by congregations, we are inundated with
praises and thanks every time we “bless” them with our presence. We would
leave every choir with pride, riding our BARTS into the sunset, thinking highly of
ourselves... if it weren’t for the money.
Let’s be honest. We are hired guns. We come in, we sing, and we leave with a
paycheck in hand. Are we a part of the musical community, or are we merely
musical mercenaries? “Whores for Jesus,” some may call us, but it’s what we do
to survive. If you want the best music possible, you have to pay someone who’s
stubborn enough to try to make a living out of it. It’s a tough living, and it’s a lonely one.
We roam from choir to choir, never turning our backs. Keeping true to our cowboy
roots, we won’t be hunkered down to any single loft. We are high plains drifters
hoping for our next chance to make enough money to carry us on over to the next
town. Volunteering to sing is foreign to us. Just because we happen to enjoy our
job doesn’t mean we can do it for free, but we long for those innocent days when
we could; singing for the pure joy of singing, before our lives depended on it.
Recently, I lost a friend of mine. We were hired to sing for a few performances at a
church. Routine gig - come in, sing a few motets, hymns, and spirituals. Anyway, I
knew he was in danger when I saw him caught by the doe eyes of a soprano; one
of the local church singers. It started with innocent banter, but I knew it wouldn’t
be long until he got her number and started going out with her. Oh, I warned him.
Before we knew it, she had convinced him to stay at that church, and God-forbid, it
breaks my heart to say it... now he’s singing for free. A year or so back, we had
made a pact. We agreed that if one of us ever went pro bono, the other would take
him down. I know my old friend would have wanted me to shoot him and get it over
with, but he looks so happy. I just can’t bare it. I guess I can’t keep my promise.
Though he may be in debt (as professional singing was half his income) and has to
borrow money from his parents (again), he’s found a choir to sing with until the
cows come home. I’ll just have to be a bad friend, break my promise, and light my
votive candle to the Virgin Mary in hopes that she breaks up with him.
But until then it’s just me again, roaming alone from choir to choir, church to
church. I know that life is easier settling down, but it’s not for me. You won’t see
this modern cowboy singing every week for one choir and one choir only. No, siree.
I’d rather just be singing to myself.
Call me,
Ismael
Celeste Winant
The 2006 Berkeley Early Music Festival and Exhibition, June 4-11, 2006, offers
aficionados and novel visitors a unique opportunity to experience a diverse array
of music. The Berkeley Festival occurs in and around the UC Berkeley campus,
every even-numbered year in June. It features four events: a main performance
series sponsored by Cal Performances and the SF Early Music Society (SFEMS); a
conference sponsored by Early Music America; an exhibition for instrument and
music vendors; and a Fringe series – a wide array of events produced by
participating choirs and promoted by SFEMS in conjunction with the main stage series.
There are three particularly unique benefits of attending the Fringe. First, nowhere
can one find as adventurous an exploration of all corners of that wide terrain we
loosely call “early music”. Second, the Fringe is a true melting pot – an equal
playing field for the classical virtuoso, the renaissance faire denizen, the university
musicology scholar, and the amateur up-and-comer. Finally, the Fringe concerts
are affordable, with admission averaging $10-15, (often discount tickets are under
$10), and many will offer admission on a sliding scale.
Of the dozen or so choral performances featured at the Fringe, a behind-the-
scenes look at three of the groups highlights the defining elements of the power
and purpose of early sacred vocal music.
The sixteen-voice professional a capella ensemble, Artists’ Vocal Ensemble (AVE),
directed by Jonathan Dimmock, will perform 666: Music for the Apocalypse on
Tuesday, June 6th (6-6-06!). AVE features some of the area’s best early music
vocalists and has rapidly earned critical acclaim for its nuanced interpretation of
Renaissance polyphony. Director Dimmock believes firmly in the emotional power
derived from the aesthetic of this music and lauds the spiritual qualities that
transcend the literal Christian context of the settings. With that in mind, AVE
weaves seamless performances, incorporating multi-media elements such as
poetry and visual art, and the creative placement of small ensembles in different
locations of the space. For this performance, AVE pairs illustrations from the 14th
century manuscript, The Cloister’s Apocalypse, with complementary motet and
plainchant settings from the Book of Revelations. The artists in this group are
selected not only for their skill, but for their passion and love of this music,
mirroring Dimmock’s own enthusiasm, which increases the joy and care invested
in the accelerated rehearsal process.
The following day, Wednesday, June 7th, Vox Populi Vocal Ensemble presents
Gate of the Morning: Sacred Music of Guillaume Dufay (15th century), featuring
the epochal Nuper rosarum flores motets in praise of the Virgin Mary, and Missa
Ave Regina Coelorum. Vox Populi was formed in 1998 by UC Berkeley graduate
students hungry for a democratic choral process through which to explore the
music of the Renaissance. Vox Populi rehearsals feel like part grad student
seminar, part choral workshop, ripe with spirited discussions spanning all
aspects of the interpretation of this music. This process leads to performances
which reflect the cooperative spirit of the group - all artists singing through each
other, without a director.
On Saturday, June 10th, the increasingly acclaimed vocal and instrumental
soloists of the Oakland-based Pacific Collegium, directed by Christopher Kula,
perform the sumptuous Grands Motets of François Couperin, composed during
the reign of Louis XIV of France. Kula, well-versed in both Western and Eastern
Christian musical traditions, formed the Pacific Collegium in 2004 to present
virtuosic sacred vocal literature in its intended setting, upholding a vast musical
tradition which is losing support in today’s budget-strapped churches and spiritual
centers. In addition to a full schedule of public concerts, the Pacific Collegium
sings regularly for the 1962-Rite Tridentine Latin Mass at St. Margaret Mary in
Oakland, providing liturgical Gregorian chant as well as polyphonic motets and
Mass Ordinary settings.
These three groups are but a sample of the offerings scheduled at the Fringe. I
strongly encourage you to head over to the Southside of Berkeley and enjoy a
musical array unlike any other. To learn more about these groups, visit
http://www.sfems.org/fringe2006.htm
CD REVIEW OF SCHOLA CANTORUM SAN FRANCISCO - PILGRIMAGE
Kevin Fox
Local musicians are familiar with Schola Cantorum San Francisco and their
director, John Renke, originally affiliated with the Shrine of St. Francis in North
Beach. The Schola is known for having high quality voices and musicians. For
those not as familiar with the Schola, their 1999 recording, Pilgrimage, is a good
place to start.
The album has a variety of pieces from different musical periods and Christian
traditions. Interspersed throughout the album are segments of Costanzo Porta’s
Missa Tertii Toni. I had never heard this mass previously. I like the interspersion
idea and the mass itself, but didn’t find it to be the highlight of the album. There
were other pieces that were more engaging and in which it seemed the choir was
more engaged.
The first track is an arrangement of Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. Put this in
your CD changer, and you may confuse it, if briefly, for something like a recording
of the well-known Frank Martin Mass. Its element of mystery, with an unwavering
sustained middle D tone, makes a perfect opening for the album. The song’s
simplicity provides for a moving interpretation of this American tune, and a great
introduction for the “pilgrimage” theme.
While I like the variety on the album, I am not in the camp that thinks the world
needs another recording of things like Palestrina’s Tu Es Petrus and Sicut Cervus,
Bruckner’s Locus Iste, or Durufle’s Ubi Caritas. That being said, it is perhaps
because those songs are so frequently done and so familiar to these singers that
they exhibited absolute command of the pieces. Locus Iste had exceptional
ensemble and dynamic control. The dynamic contrast on the recapitulation was
especially refreshing and saved it from being yet another drab recording of the
Bruckner. Ubi Caritas was also unique in that the men sing more of the chant
before the motet begins, instead of the typical incipit. The presence of Sicut
Cervus was explained in the liner notes, tying it to the “pilgrimage” idea, but it
wasn’t enough reason for me to feel like I needed to hear it yet again.
Also on the CD are some lesser-known works (at least relative to those above),
including di Lasso’s Exaudi Domine, Gerald Near’s Prayer of St. Francis, Rutter’s
God Be in My Head, Bairstow’s I Sat Down, and Benedicat Nos by Calvert Shenk. I
was pleased to hear the Bairstow; it’s a beautiful piece in which the Schola deftly
maneuvers through the harmonic changes, singing with sensitivity and
expression. I personally don’t get tired of hearing Stanford’s Beati Quorum Via if
it’s well done, and the Schola is one of the few American choirs I know of to record
it. They put a breath after the first “Beati”, which I found to be a bit jarring to the
flow of the piece, but it lends a unique twist to something we may have all heard on
recordings of English choirs. Both the Rutter and the Shenk piece are nice
additions, worth consideration by choir directors.
The album concludes with Poulenc’s St. Francis prayers. The work is well-known
nd widely recorded, but for the choir originating from the Shrine of St. Francis,
they can get away with having put out yet another recording of the work. The
pronunciation and phrasing are excellent. Most who have sung it do not tire of
hearing it.
The engineering is well done, with local experts Lolly Lewis and Don Osaske
behind the production. It can be difficult to get a good sound and good takes, and I
can’t imagine when they could have recorded this to not get traffic noise in North
Beach, but the Schola’s professionalism prevailed. On the whole, the singing is
excellent. I didn’t always agree with the tuning scheme of the men – baritones and
basses in particular. Nonetheless, Schola Cantorum San Francisco shows why it
is among the best, if not the best liturgically based choir in the Bay Area. Their on-
again, off-again affiliation with the Shrine has put the choir’s mere existence in
question frequently, but as they have recently incorporated as a separate entity, it
appears this fine choir will be preserved.
Visit Schola Cantorum San Francisco at www.scholasf.org
SINGING TO MYSELF
The Modern Cowboy
I’m fulfilling my boyhood fantasy. No, I’m not dating Michelle Peppers - the hottest
girl in my 6th grade history class. Instead, I have become a cowboy. Yes, that’s
right, a gun-totin’, canteen-carrying, bottomless-chaps-wearin’ cowboy.
O.K. so I don’t wear bottomless chaps (except on Thursday nights), or carry a
canteen, or tote a gun, but I am a professional singer, so please excuse me while I
blow smoke up my own skirt.
Professional singers are the modern cowboys. We are the hired guns of musical
society. Where cowboys would come in and save a village from some masked
banditos who’d pillage, plunder, and destroy the town, professional singers are
hired to come in and save villages in their time of musical need.
We ride in from the horizon on the ever-faithful BART, with our pencils in hand,
water bottles at our sides, warmed up, and ready to hit any note that dare show its
face on a page. Appreciated and adored by congregations, we are inundated with
praises and thanks every time we “bless” them with our presence. We would
leave every choir with pride, riding our BARTS into the sunset, thinking highly of
ourselves... if it weren’t for the money.
Let’s be honest. We are hired guns. We come in, we sing, and we leave with a
paycheck in hand. Are we a part of the musical community, or are we merely
musical mercenaries? “Whores for Jesus,” some may call us, but it’s what we do
to survive. If you want the best music possible, you have to pay someone who’s
stubborn enough to try to make a living out of it. It’s a tough living, and it’s a lonely one.
We roam from choir to choir, never turning our backs. Keeping true to our cowboy
roots, we won’t be hunkered down to any single loft. We are high plains drifters
hoping for our next chance to make enough money to carry us on over to the next
town. Volunteering to sing is foreign to us. Just because we happen to enjoy our
job doesn’t mean we can do it for free, but we long for those innocent days when
we could; singing for the pure joy of singing, before our lives depended on it.
Recently, I lost a friend of mine. We were hired to sing for a few performances at a
church. Routine gig - come in, sing a few motets, hymns, and spirituals. Anyway, I
knew he was in danger when I saw him caught by the doe eyes of a soprano; one
of the local church singers. It started with innocent banter, but I knew it wouldn’t
be long until he got her number and started going out with her. Oh, I warned him.
Before we knew it, she had convinced him to stay at that church, and God-forbid, it
breaks my heart to say it... now he’s singing for free. A year or so back, we had
made a pact. We agreed that if one of us ever went pro bono, the other would take
him down. I know my old friend would have wanted me to shoot him and get it over
with, but he looks so happy. I just can’t bare it. I guess I can’t keep my promise.
Though he may be in debt (as professional singing was half his income) and has to
borrow money from his parents (again), he’s found a choir to sing with until the
cows come home. I’ll just have to be a bad friend, break my promise, and light my
votive candle to the Virgin Mary in hopes that she breaks up with him.
But until then it’s just me again, roaming alone from choir to choir, church to
church. I know that life is easier settling down, but it’s not for me. You won’t see
this modern cowboy singing every week for one choir and one choir only. No, siree.
I’d rather just be singing to myself.
Call me,
Ismael