Concert Details

The audience was abuzz during the intermission of Paul Winter's "Missa Gaia" on Saturday evening. Words ranged from "wowee-zowee" to "profound." Whatever words one used, the concert was, as Diane Retallack promised, an experience.

As artistic director and conductor of the Eugene Concert Choir, Retallack once again teamed the choir with the Paul Winter Consort to present this popular ecological reading of the ancient liturgy of the Mass.

This 25-year-old work becomes new each time it is presented because new pieces are added or old ones subtracted; this time the musicians interspersed a few songs from their latest Grammy-winning album, "Silver Solstice," with sections of the Mass.

The uniqueness of this event included recorded sounds of wolves, whales and seals, percussion instruments which punctuated Gregorian chants with African rhythms, and the gospel-inflected singing of Theresa Thomason. Added to this musical variety were the distinctive sounds of Paul Winter's soprano saxophone and the well-rehearsed Concert Choir.

The audience's enthusiastic response indicated that this concert was another success for Retallack's group.

This Mass follows the traditional parts of the Mass, from the "Kyrie" to the "Agnus Dei," but it also includes "Canticle of Brother Sun" by St. Francis of Assisi and a paraphrase of the "Beatitudes."

Perhaps the most unique addition to the liturgical music is the use of animal sounds as musical themes. The "Kyrie," for instance, began with the howl of a wolf which Winter mimicked, note for note, on his saxophone and which the choir eventually took up. That four-note theme interestingly included a tritone, an interval that the medieval church once considered diabolical and that has long represented evil in Western music. By taking this interval from nature, Winter justified its transformation into sacred music.

As an example of what is called world music, this Mass combines sacred chants and hymns from the Christian tradition with the rhythms of Africa and Brazil. The Gregorian chant "Ubi caritas," for instance, was combined with African rhythms, which produced a highly charged, yet strangely contemplative piece.

Winter's virtuoso saxophone playing coaxed a variety of sounds and moods from this instrument. It became a mellow organ one moment, then an intense jazz instrument, and at times an animal's wailing. The soprano sax is rarely heard outside of jazz circles, and it has a powerful appeal.

One of the special events of the evening was Winter's solo in "Canyon Chaconne," originally recorded in a side canyon, which he named Bach's Canyon, of the Grand Canyon.

Theresa Thomason was a wonder. She added the drive that turned some of the potentially mellow pieces into high-voltage gospel songs. She received a well-deserved standing ovation after "The Rain is Over and Gone."

The impressive percussion section of four players, including the peripatetic Charles Dowd, was also a special part of the evening.

The Concert Choir had a major role in these events and sang with verve and accuracy. It seemed to enjoy letting loose to the rhythmic drive of the music. Unusual for its concerts, however, the choir was heavily miked. This made for odd sounds at time: an eerie echo effect, the sound of pages turning, and of individual sections and even individual voices. Most likely this step was taken because the Paul Winter Consort used microphones, but for the choir this means of sound production proved distracting at times.

The evening was not only for the players and singers. In one piece, "Wolf Eyes," the audience was invited to join in the "Howlelujah Chorus." It is amazing how much the human species enjoys howling, and perhaps it proves, as the "Earth Mass" seems to say, that we humans are connected to all creatures.

This is not complex music, but it is very compelling, and Saturday evening it was extremely well played and sung. Indeed it was more than a concert; it was an experience.

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