Saturday, April 8, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.
Jaqua Concert Hall at The Shedd

Concert Details

Fa la las rang through Jaqua Concert Hall at the Shedd on Saturday evening as the Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Founded by artistic director and conductor Diane Retallack in 1986, this small chorus of 24 members has since provided Eugene with sophisticated choral programs several times each year. On Saturday, the group presented madrigals in the first half of the program, and after the intermission reprised Johannes Brahms' "Neue Liebeslieder" from its first year.

Since I was a member of the group in that very first concert, I can attest to the ensemble's growth and to Retallack's efforts to push more and more sophisticated music its way. Although the crowd was small, the audience heartily applauded this excellent concert.

When the concert began, the chorus - each member decked out in colorful Renaissance attire - entered from the back of the auditorium singing the first of several madrigals. The colorful costumes are the creations of numerous seamstresses in our community and provide an exciting way to present madrigals and motets of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The madrigal is essentially a song in counterpoint, with each of the voices singing its own tune. Retallack gave helpful introductions to each of the songs. These songs ranged from Italian and English to the lesser-known Flemish and German compositions, and from secular songs to religious motets.

The chorus is well-versed in this tradition since it often sings madrigals; in fact, in its "Contemporary Sounds" concert in February, Retallack included complex, modern versions of this form by Morten Lauridson.

At this concert, the chorus' sound was balanced and full, especially in the slow pieces: "Il Bianco e Dolce Cigno" ("The White and Sweet Swan") by Jacob Arcadelt and the sacred motet "When David Heard" by Thomas Tomkins.

The latter tells the story of David mourning the death of his rebellious son, Absalom. The refrain "O my son" was tellingly portrayed.

The highlight of this segment of the concert was the madrigal by that genius of the form, Claudio Monteverdi. Monteverdi was considered avant-garde in his time because of his use of dissonance, which was readily apparent in "A un giro sol" ("At a single glance").

As is often the case in madrigal poems, the lover's ideal woman is "cruel" because she rejects him. Sweet music begins Monteverdi's description of the beloved's glance, but when he portrays her rejection, the dissonance is brutal. The choir sang this piece superbly.

At times, Retallack highlighted a small group because, as she noted, madrigals usually were written for quartets. But we have become so accustomed to a bigger sound that the smaller groups sounded thin.

The second part of the program was devoted solely to Brahms' wonderful waltzes. Based on folk poems, these new love songs, "Neue Liebeslieder," followed, in 1869, upon the success of his original collection of waltzes.

Unlike the counterpoint of the madrigals, these songs depend on lush, vertical harmony, demanding not only excellent voices but also four hands at the piano. These 15 pieces were beautifully rendered by both the chorus and by pianists Barbara Baird and Hung-Yun Chu.

These songs also include numerous solos. Having sung one of these solos in that long-ago concert, and not too well I might add, I marveled at these singers' abilities to step to the fore with the song memorized and present it dramatically as well as vocally. Victoria Mitchell and Cindy Gay were particularly good.

It is hard to imagine that these songs, like the madrigals, were originally written for a quartet. The larger chorus underscores the luxuriant resonance we expect from late Romantic composers, and the ensemble rose to that sound, especially in the stirring piece that speaks of "a hundred-thousand kisses."

The Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble is an elite member of our musical community and has a loyal following. It celebrated its anniversary in fine fashion.

Marilyn Farwell is a professor emerita of English at the University of Oregon.