University of Virginia Library

MUSIC

Glee Club Concert Features Audience Participation

By PAUL CHAPLIN

Last Friday it was simply
impossible to even stand in
Cabell Hall auditorium,
location of the Glee Club's
annual Christmas Concert.
People were literally pouring
into the hall before 8:00 p.m.
so that by 8:30 I noticed a
stuffy feeling around me.
Fantastic, I thought, that so
many people come to a free
concert!

The crowd wasn't the only
unique element which added to
the atmosphere of the concert.
The hall was decked in
greenery (spruce and Virginia
Creeper) and illuminated by
candlelight. The electric lights
were dimmed and two singers
casually strolled out, lite the
candles and ta-da OCH
auditorium is a chapel,
semi-Renaissance chamber, or
whatever one thought was
Christmasish.

All the effort was
momentarily destroyed
however when the Glee Club
began to sing. Starting the
program with three
processional motets, director
Donald Loach had the club file
into the hall and down the
stairs of the stage.

Unfortunately, 66 singers
had difficulty proceeding
through several hundred people
blocking entrances and
stairwells. Singing "Jubliemus
Regi," a 13th century
conductus motet, the singers
made their way to the stage,
led by James Babb
experiencing some difficulty in
playing the recorder.

Next on the program were
three 20th century pieces by
Benjamin Britten, Fenno Heath
and Vincent Persichetti. Of the
three, I preferred the Britten
"A Boy Was Born in
Bethlehem," and found the
other two to be somewhat dull
when compared to the
previously heard motets.

Following the three songs
was the Gloria from the Missa
Mater Patris of Josquin
Desprez, which was performed
very nicely and built up my
expectations for the remainder
of the first half of the program.

As a novelty, the Club then
performed three
interpretations of the text,
"Sing to the Lord a New
Song." The first by Hans Leo
Hassler was pleasant and
satisfactorily sung by full
chorus, being an interesting
way to introduce the Virginia
Gentlemen singing "Chantez A
Dieu Chanson Nouvell" by
Jan Pieters Sweelinck. The
Gentlemen have lovely voices,
yet they seemed to be having
trouble adapting to the piece
and feeling comfortable with
it.

The highlight of the first
half of the program was the
final setting of "Cantate
Domino" by Dietrich
Buxtehilde. Here was a truly
joyous and spirited score to
match the exuberance of the
text.

After the intermission (and
the realization that more
people had been trickling in),
the program continued with
Lloyd Pfautsch's "A Day for
Dancing," a presentation of
nine carols "that rehearse the
story told in the Christmas
lessons." The carols were
rearranged for male voices by
Mr. Loach, who also added
four carols for audience
participation. Whoa!, this may
get tricky, I thought. (It was.)

The audience leaped up
every time a song was
announced for their singing,
and sang with much vigor.
When finished singing though,
Mr. Loach would have to pause
while the "congregation" had
settled down again and stopped
congratulating themselves on
their musical abilities. The
finale of the group singing was
"The Twelve Days of
Christmas," a song that could
give any conductor
convulsions (especially in a
group sing-along), but Mr.
Loach held his own, and even
made one section of the
audience rehearse their line
("nine ladies dancing.")

When the audience wasn't
singing, their attention was
easily held by the nine carols,
which had a Medieval aspect
about them. I was intrigued
with "Behold a Silly Tender
Babe," a melody I had always
associated with a Lenten hymn
"Oh Sacred Head
Surrounded." The tenor solo
by Louis Burkot was a little
shaky in places, but for the
final "At Christmas Time All
Christians Sing," Mr. Burkot
sounded more confident and
much better.

In all, it was a nice evening
of musical entertainment. Mr.
Loach was assisted by a small
instrumental ensemble, which
rounded out the sound in
several of the numbers, most
notably the Buxehude.

My complaints were mainly
with the crowd. There were
too many people for the
processional to really work,
and the group singing held up
the program. Otherwise, the
Glee Club and Mr. Loach
seemed to have sparked some
Christmas spirit into the
audience, which is, after all,
what a Christmas concert is all
about.