"Sounds of the 20th Century” Includes Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms
Choir’s spring performances are May 2 and 3
A performance of Leonard Bernstein’s three-movement Chichester Psalms for organ, harp, percussion, chorus and boy soprano will be the centerpiece of two performances by the choir at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.
“Sounds of the 20th Century” will be presented on two evenings, Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, both in the college’s Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel. Each night, choir director D. Jason Bishop will give a brief pre-performance lecture at 7:30 p.m. to help the audience better appreciate the complexities of the 20-minute Bernstein piece, and singing will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 for the general public, $3 for Penn State Behrend faculty and staff, and free to students. They may be purchased at the Reed Union Building main desk, phone 814-898-6242.
“The Chichester Psalms is a stunning musical setting of Hebrew psalms,” said Bishop, who also is director of choral activities at the college. “The second movement in particular explores tension between the themes of war and peace from the perspective of two contrasting psalms. Using a boy soprano in that movement seems to be Bernstein’s way of suggesting that children are our hope for creating lasting peace in the future.”
Accompanying the choir in the singing of the Chichester Psalms will be organist Erik Meyer of Luther Memorial Church, harpist Sonja Inglefield of Fredonia, and percussionist Rob Roth of Allegheny College.
Konstantin Deyev, 12, of Fairview, will sing the Chichester’s boy soprano part on May 2. On Saturday, May 3, 14-year-old Devin Hinchman of Greene Township will perform. Both boys are home-schooled and members of the Children’s Choir of the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Paul, a Royal Society of Church Music choir that performs under the director of Sharon Downey.
Other pieces on the program include Donald Patriquin’s French-Canadian folk song “J’entends le Moulin,” Morten Lauridsen’s setting of Rainer Maria Rilke’s love poem “Dirait-on,” an adaptation of Walt Whitman’s “A Jubilant Song” by Norman Dello Joio, African American spirituals, and a wordless choral piece by Australian composer Sarah Hopkins.
“In a wordless, or ‘vocalise’ work, the choir sings vowel sounds or nonsense syllables instead of text to create a particular sonic effect,” Bishop explains. “In Hopkins’ piece, the choir is divided into multiple parts. They begin with closed-mouth humming, then open to certain syllables like ‘ah’ and ‘yeah’ until a recurring melody appears. The end of the piece is designed to produce special harmonic overtones, which are pitches that no one is actually singing, but are generated by the interaction of the choir’s sounds and the Smith Chapel itself.”
The choir also will be accompanied by pianist Sung-Hui Elberfeld. For more information about the “Sounds of the 20th Century” performance, contact D. Jason Bishop at 814-898-6078.