The Cavalier daily :: Monday, March 24, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

Arthur Honneger's King David is
one of the few 20th century
examples of dramatic choral music,
and it carries on a tradition which
began in the 17th century with the
development of the oratorio in
Italy and of the passion in
Germany. Unfortunately, as a piece
of music, King David is a
disappointment, and the work was
made to sound much better than it
is by the soloists, the Hollins
College Chapel Choir, the
University of Virginia Glee Club,
and the members of the University
and Community Orchestra and
Concert Band who performed it
under Donald Loach's direction in
Cabell Hall on Friday evening.

Honneger Idolized J.S. Bach,
and he patterned King David on the
Saint John Passion and the Saint
Matthew Passion by the German
master. The story line is told by a
narrator, and the soloists and
chorus comment on it, as well as
assist in the narration. Herein lies
the rub. While the narrator in the
Bach Passions sings the gospel text
in recitatives, Honneger has chosen
to have a spoken narration which
fragments his composition.

Vacillations

King David, which is scored for
soloists, chorus, and an ensemble of
brass, woodwind, and percussion
instruments with piano, organ, and
celesta, was written in less than six
weeks, and, since Honneger did not
compose with the great assurance
of Handel or Mozart, for example,
the work shows many signs of the
haste with which it was set down.
King David lacks unity of style: it
vacillates between tonality and
atonality and is highly derivative in
places, with veiled references to
Lutheran chorale tunes, a Bach
Cantata chorus, and even the
Mendelssohn Wedding March,
Nevertheless, there are some
marvelous moments in the score —
"The Incantation of the Witch of
Endor", "The Dance before the
Ark," and "The Death of David."

Donald Loach works wonders
with this disappointing
composition. His strong overview of
King David and the momentum
created by his generally brisk tempi
managed to obscure a good deal of
the fragmentation of the score that
is caused by the spoken narration.
Mr. Loach was assisted by first rate
soloists, and particular praise goes
to David Ward, who spoke the
narration with precisely the right
combination of dignity and
emotion, and to Marie Boyle, who
"stole the show" with her
characterization of the Witch of
Endor.

The chorus sang with clarity,
feeling, and an assuredness which
demonstrated a thorough
knowledge of the score. I was
particularly impressed by the
lightness of the female voices; there
was absolutely no trace of that
noxious flute-like warble that often
plagues women's choruses.

Need French Text

My reservations about the
quality of the performance are
minor in light of Donald Loach's
fine interpretation of King David.
The instrumental ensemble played
splendidly, but it had a tendency to
swamp both the soloists and the
chorus on occasion. I am also
bothered by the fact that King
David was sung in English.
Honneger set a French text, and his
rhythms and accents, particularly in
the choruses, were governed by the
peculiar rules of French vocal
declamation. However, the use of a
translation must have been
considered a necessity because of
the spoken narration. How strange
it is that audiences which will sit
through narrative recitatives sung in
a foreign language without
complaint, balk at listening to a
spoken narration in a tongue that
they do not understand.

Future Works

Considering the quality of the
interpretation and of the
performance, I am quite sure that
we will be treated to more splendid
evenings by Mr. Loach and the
University of Virginia Glee Club. I
hope, though, that they will turn
their talents to less well-known but
more satisfying choral works — for
example, the Rossini Petite Messe
Solemnelle, or the Handel
Foundling Hospital Anthem.