A Saint and a Patriot
2nd and 18th centuries as sources

Sunday, May 22, 2005
By John Hammel

Morris Choral Society & Orchestra, R. Wayne Walters (conductor). Ellen Kennedy Traeger (soprano), Rodne Brown (tenor), Torlef Borsting (baritone). Charles Gounod: Saint Cécilia Mass; William Steffe: Battle Hymn of the Republic (arr. Peter Wilhousky); Randall Thompson: Testament of Freedom. Saint Mary's Abbey, Morristown.

Randall Thompson's The Testament of Freedom, a series of settings from Thomas Jefferson's writings, has been decried by some critics as simplistic and too tonal (written and premiered at the University of Virginia's Founder's Day on April 13, 1943), in an era when composers were experimenting with more angular rhythms and tonalities. It was also considered heavy handed in the sense that, besides its obvious tonality, it is primarily always four to the bar. Thompson also had a tendency in this work to overuse built-in crescendos and accelerandos as he rushes to each section's climax. Yet the work's power and patriotic fervor, not nationalistic or chauvinistic but more patriotic in the sense of encompassing all mankind, is compelling and powerful. That, coupled with the piece's requirement of a powerful male sound from the choir, often makes listening to it a fulfilling experience.

The first movement, "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time", is a hymn-like devotion to the text which gains in power with every repetition of the text. Mr. Walters blended his orchestra and choir masterfully, culminating in a stirring conclusion to the movement.

The second movement is the most contemplative of the four. It begins with the words "Our cause is just", and ends with the sentence, "being with one mind resolved to die free men rather than to live slaves." These words written by a benevolent slaveholder, but a slave owner nevertheless, would be echoed and referred to by runaway slaves and abolitionists both preceding and after the Civil War. The forces of the Morris Choral Society and Orchestra got at the meaning of this section perfectly, evoking all the consummate power and grandeur of the text. Walters provided wonderful shape and balance.

The third movement's martial nature was boldly delineated through the clear enunciation of the words "We fight not for glory or conquest" and the remainder of the paragraph from the Declaration of Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms, written by Jefferson on July 6, 1775, underlined the inherent profundity. This was not mere jingoistic patriotism but dug deeper, revealing the universality at it's roots. There was much tension and some dissonance, eventually and always tonally resolved with flowing linearity.

The final movement is an excerpt from a letter Jefferson wrote to John Adams, from Monticello on September 12, 1821. It begins "I shall not die without a hope that light and liberty are on steady advance..." and culminates with the words "The flames kindled on July 4, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished..."

At the end of the excerpt, the first movement is recapitulated. This is masterful writing and perhaps the criticisms of the simplistic nature of Thompson's opus don't take into account that anything dissonant or over-complex in composition would have destroyed or at the very least detracted from the sublimity of this monumental text. In any regard, this last movement is soul stirring and communicates on a profound level that goes beyond mere criticism.

The music envelops these universal truths and wraps the text in a mantle of good strong homespun fiber that sustains where a more complicated composition would have distracted the listener. Walters and his choir set forth the texts of this and the preceding three movements with consummate artistry. They lived and breathed the words and made them come alive with a communicative sense of love and commitment.

Camille Saint-Saëns believed that Charles Gounod's true and lasting legacy would be through his sacred works, most particularly the Messe de Sainte Cécile, whose premiere took place at the Church of Saint-Eustache on November 22, 1855. Saint-Saëns went on to write that the performance of this work left one "dazzled, then charmed, then conquered."

One almost forgets, due to Gounod's voluminous output of thirteen operas, that his sacred and church works far outnumbered his secular ones. This is not so surprising from a man so religiously scrupulous that he took courses in theology at Saint-Sulpice and for a while referred to himself as Abbé Gounod. Gounod's mass is a fulsomely romantic work and one fitting for Sainte Cécile, the patron saint of music and poets, who was martyred in the second century of the newly founded church.

The work is scored for three soloists, orchestra, chorus and harp. The writing is lush yet transparent enough so that all the textures are on full display. Even in fortissimo passages the scoring is such that all is discernible, and the colors can be easily aurally parsed.

Conductor R. Wayne Walters kept the music flowing sweetly, with a keen ear and eye for individual detail, keeping the intonation of the chorus true and firmly balanced, insuring that the string *ostinatos in the "Gloria" were precise, enforcing crisp, clean cutoffs throughout; and keeping the overall shape and architecture of the work in proper Gallic perspective. He developed crescendos and decrescendos beautifully and exacted extreme pianissimo's from the chorus, which delivered them delicately. Their pitch, balance, shape and diction were the equal of any. Most notable perhaps, was the choir's gorgeous evocation of the Amen in the "Gloria" section, resulting in a stirring fortissimo climax. It all added up to a stunningly beautiful performance.

Yet none of the soloists cut through the hall with any sense of power or intensity. They opted instead for a finely blended tone quality. Perhaps they also erred on the side of caution, lacking textural commitment and intensity. Soprano Ellen Kennedy Traeger's smallish voice wasn't firmly kept in line and tended to be slightly on the shrill side as she rose upwards in the staff. Tenor Rodne Brown has a wonderful timbre to his voice but alas didn't cut through the orchestra or hall with any urgency at all. In fact, the higher he ascended the smaller and more pointed his tone became. Baritone Torlef Borsting also had a pleasing tone to his voice with good line and diction but suffered from the same lack of power as the other two soloists. I'm not sure that the problem with vocal presence of the soloists wasn't a problem with the acoustics of the room, but that would only account for part of the lack of power. There is a thing called "adjustment" which artists have to consider and adapt to.

Sandwiched in between the two larger works was the famous Peter Wilhousky arrangement of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The parts are wonderfully arranged and the choir sang with gusto and panache. My only complaint was in the lyrical middle section for male voices only that divides the arrangement in two, which has a beautiful *contrapuntal melody by the first tenors which could have been brought out more. This would have lent the segment a richer quality - a minor complaint in an otherwise first rate rendition.

This was a masterfully conducted and performed afternoon of music.

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