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Chanticleer Offers Course In Evolving Of Vocals, And More

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  • Chanticleer Offers Course In Evolving Of Vocals, And More

    CHANTICLEER OFFERS COURSE IN EVOLVING OF VOCALS, AND MORE
    By Edward Ortiz

    Sacramento Bee
    http://www.sacbee.com/122/story/1493296.html
    D ec 23 2008
    CA

    It's no simple thing to take an audience from the plainsong music of
    the 15th century to the expansive sound of the 20th.

    But the San Francisco-based vocal ensemble Chanticleer did just that
    Sunday evening at the Mondavi Center at the University of California,
    Davis.

    And it did so in just under an hour.

    That hour comprised the first half of Chanticleer's two-hour program of
    Christmas music at Mondavi. And there was so much given to the audience
    during the first half that what followed, which included tried and true
    Christmas favorites, seemed like icing on a very well-flavored cake.

    The first part of the evening was structured in four segments,
    each section's music evolving chronologically. As things proceeded,
    the development of vocal music over time was laid bare. Whereas
    the music of the 15th century offered singular musical intensities
    fit for trancelike states, the music of the 20th revealed a multi-
    faceted openness in which the musical splendor had a large-canvas feel.

    The evening started with 12 fresh-faced, intense singers giving "Come,
    Come Emmanuel" a simple, unadorned patina. Here the ensemble entered
    the hall four at a time, adding one musical line over another. It made
    this work sound true to its 15th century origins as a processional
    for French Franciscan nuns.

    After a transcendent take on the 11th century "Corde Natus ex Parentis"
    and a subtle turn on the 18th century hymn "Adeste Fidelis," the
    singers got down to some new business.

    Like that other prized San Francisco musical ensemble, the Kronos
    Quartet, Chanticleer makes its biggest musical statements with
    lesser-known works. Discovery is the paradigm.

    One of the most sublime works Chanticleer performed was "Bazmutyunq"
    by the Armenian monk, composer and enthnomusicologist Komitas "Gomidas"
    Vartabed. Here the rich, inter- weaving harmonies, both secular and
    liturgical, evoked the slow and somber settling of dense fog over a
    dark, low-lying forest.

    The electric and radiant soprano of newcomer Gregory Peebles was a
    bold part of Pavel Chesnokov's 20th century gem "My Soul Magnifies
    the Lord."

    Peebles' soaring soprano was electrifying and was lovingly given a warm
    foundation by the chorus. The unorthodox nature of the music came from
    a healthy and tasty dose of chromatic singing for choir and soprano.

    If there was any doubt as to this ensemble's facility for channeling
    the great charm of 20th century vocal music, it was dispelled on
    John Tavener's 1992 "Village Wedding." Here each musical line is
    offered as a musical tableaux meant to describe a village wedding in
    Greece. The music was low and slow, with an almost black-and-white
    cinematic starkness.

    Although the concert was by this time only half over, the price of
    admission had already been earned.

    How many times can that be said at a classical music concert?
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