Christmas Concert
Dec. 17th, 2008 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariOn Sunday afternoon, while my stew was cooking in the crockpot, I went to Boston Cecilia's Christmas in England: Ancient and Modern. I was also really happy to hear their special guests, early music group Exsultemus. In fact, the concert almost seemed designed with me in mind, since all the pieces were either contemporary, medieval, or renaissance music.
I was completely enchanted by the Britten pieces. The Festival Te Deum was a gorgeously mystical piece. The harmonies occasionally dipped into the ethereal, especially in the organ part. The choral part made amazing use of dynamic shading. The excerpts from A Boy Was Born were no less beautiful. The first selection, "Theme", was lovely in its simplicity, and "Variation V - In the Bleak Mid-Winter" featured a wonderful soprano solo set against the choir. "Chorale After and Old French Carol" finished out the Britten segment with its amazing harmonies.
The rest of the contemporary segments included Tavener's "The Lamb", which I found rather dull, and Vaughn Williams' "Wassail Song", which I found rather charming.
Of the medieval and Renaissance selections, my favorites were the William Byrd pieces "Euge caeli porta", "Ecce mater", "O magnum mysterium", "Senex puerum portabat", and "Puer natus". Byrd's polyphony is so clear and elegant. I also really liked "Quid petis, o fili" by Richard Pygott for its imitation of a mother cooing to her baby and for the nice contrast between polyphonic and monophonic passages.
I was completely enchanted by the Britten pieces. The Festival Te Deum was a gorgeously mystical piece. The harmonies occasionally dipped into the ethereal, especially in the organ part. The choral part made amazing use of dynamic shading. The excerpts from A Boy Was Born were no less beautiful. The first selection, "Theme", was lovely in its simplicity, and "Variation V - In the Bleak Mid-Winter" featured a wonderful soprano solo set against the choir. "Chorale After and Old French Carol" finished out the Britten segment with its amazing harmonies.
The rest of the contemporary segments included Tavener's "The Lamb", which I found rather dull, and Vaughn Williams' "Wassail Song", which I found rather charming.
Of the medieval and Renaissance selections, my favorites were the William Byrd pieces "Euge caeli porta", "Ecce mater", "O magnum mysterium", "Senex puerum portabat", and "Puer natus". Byrd's polyphony is so clear and elegant. I also really liked "Quid petis, o fili" by Richard Pygott for its imitation of a mother cooing to her baby and for the nice contrast between polyphonic and monophonic passages.
