Updated: Jun 13, 2023 09:19 AM
The Bermuda School of Music delivered a “beautifully performed programme” last weekend, writes Michael Jones (Photograph supplied)
Marjorie Pettit has, once again, brought together her 140 performers and singers to deliver to us a thoughtfully chosen, beautifully performed programme of emotionally diverse gems from the repertory of choral music.
Opening with Verdi’s Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, from his 1841 opera Nabucco with its expression of overwhelming grief at the loss of homeland, we moved to two charming vignettes from Humperdinck’s 1893 Hansel and Gretel – Evening Prayer and Brother Come and Dance With Me – sung as a duet by Youth Choir members Gloria Candiolo and Natalia Tafur.
The emotional impact of the prayer of the two lost children conjuring forth guardian angels was nicely offset by the innocent fun of their romping children’s dance. Borodin’s 1887 Choral Dance changed our focus to Ukraine; Borodin’s opera Prince Igor depicted a patriotic prince fighting off a barbarian invasion of Ukraine.
Chorister Euan Forster’s simple and unembellished solo of Mendelssohn’s O For the Wings of a Dove, together with Andrea Hodgson’s simple and unembellished piano accompaniment formed an unforgettable expression of childish longing and marked the emotional high point of the first half of the concert.
Handel’s anthem Zadok the Priest, first performed In October 1727 at George II’s coronation and most recently on May 6 of this year at Charles III’s, showed the composer’s mastery of the music of solemn, majestic ceremony and of joyful acclamation and brought the first half of the concert to a close.
Mozart’s Requiem in D Minor formed the second half of the concert and was in itself a hugely diverse emotive experience with its 13 sections ranging from apocalypse, terror and confusion to last judgment, contrition, intercession, worship, salvation and redemption. We were able to appreciate the work in some detail because our programmes contained the full text of the work in Latin and English, a gift from the School of Music which greatly helped our understanding. For me, a pivotal moment in the work, when terror changes to hope, is during the third section, tuba mirum.
It was in this movement that our Bermuda soloists were introduced. Bass singer Peter Nash set the scene of the dead arising and assembling at the sound of the last trump. Next tenor Kevin Lee described the book of judgment.
Contralto Evangelina Ng showed the judge taking his seat and finally soprano Joanna Sherratt-Wyer hinted at possible redemption.
An early fan of this movement was the French novelist Stendhal who had heard a performance of the work while he was serving in Napoleon’s army occupying Vienna. In 1818 he wrote a biography of Haydn and Mozart in which he recalled his experience, though he was more interested in Mozart’s use of the trombone, then a novelty.
“This great work is a solemn mass in D minor hung around with funeral pomp and imagery. The tuba mirum (third movement) is opened by the sonorous tromboni, to awaken the sleeping dead. Every one acquainted with the powers of this instrument acknowledges the superiority of its tones for the expression of this sublime idea.”
Tight teamwork, rapport between conductor, leaders, soloists, choirs and orchestra made for an unforgettable performance of this massive, complex and emotionally overwhelming masterpiece.
The Bermuda School of Music’s Spring Concert was directed by Marjorie Pettit on June 9 and 10 at St John’s Church in Pembroke.