The music of the cathedrals and great churches of the British Isles has been a fixture at their services for more than half a millennium, sung by boys and men in most cases (until recently) with a pure sound that soars to the rafters and reverberates out through the nave and aisles. While there is a vast repertoire to choose from, new choral music to augment is demanded all the time, hence the strong tradition of new church music written there, amongst some of the best music that Britain has to offer.
The 20th century was no exception, and Seattle Pro Musica chose a sampling of the genre for its Christmas concerts this year. Typical of the attention always paid to detail by the choir under artistic director and conductor Karen P. Thomas, the tone quality of its performance Saturday night at Town Hall was essentially that of a choir of British men and boys. It sounded clean, pure, with light if any vibrato, in contrast to–for instance–the warm richness of a Central European choir (though I have no doubt this choir can approximate that equally well).
The high quality of the works gave Thomas plenty to choose from, and she included music from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and England, the words in original Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, or old English, as well as Latin and modern English. Several were arrangements of traditional local carols from different areas of the British Isles, some outstanding, such as the medieval-sounding processional Jerusalem, an Irish carol arranged by Michael McGlynn, and Ar gyfer heeiw’r bore, a typical Welsh carol–bright, fast and charming–arranged by Keith Davies-Jones. Other, newer ones, like Judith Weir’s Illuminare Jerusalem, had words in old Scots and more ethereal harmonies, while the joyful Hodie Christus Natus Est of Welshman William Mathias had great rhythm and liveliness. Mathias composed an anthem for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981 at St. Paul’s Cathedral, while Paul Mealor, another Welshman whose A Spotless Rose had harmonies expanding like an opening flower, was one of the composers whose music was sung at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton last April in Westminster Abbey.
The earliest work came from Charles Villiers Stanford, whose great Magnificat for double choir dates from 1918. The most recent was probably the only one with a composer not of British origin, Seattle’s own John Muelheisen, whose original work with harp, This Night, to an ancient Celtic text, was composed for the Dale Warland Singers in 2003 and rewritten as an a cappella work, titled Invocation for Seattle Pro Musica with its premiere at this concert.
The choir sang all of these and more unaccompanied with perfect pitch sense, excellent words, gusto where needed, and serenity in the lullabies, sometimes while processing around the hall with lit candles in hand and unconducted. Solos were excellent, with many choir members taking their turn. It’s no accident that this choir is considered one of the best in the country. Both this performance and next Saturday’s concerts are sold out, but a third performance has been added, the evening of Friday December 16th at Bastyr Chapel, a perfect acoustical venue for something like this. Details and tickets at the website.