KORI BARKLEY
Staff Writer
Now in its seventh year, the Masterworks Scholarship Benefit Concert has grown to become the highlight performance in the School of Music. This was evident on Sunday, April 27, because Rosch Recital Hall was near full capacity as the College Symphony Orchestra and Masterworks Chorus presented an eclectic program under the direction of Dr. David Rudge.
The concert opened with the United States premiere of Robert Moran’s “Eclipse.” The hall grew completely dark, save faint blue lights from above, creating a night sky effect as 17 string musicians appeared on stage and in the balcony for surround sound.
The piece began as musicians turned their music stand lights on one-by-one, in time. Rudge conducted the piece in a circular pattern, mirroring the second hand of a watch. As time passed, sounds came and went. Solo string voices quietly and carefully arose from silence, converging and developing before disappearing into what seemed like great distances.
“Eclipse” was inspired by newly-discovered research Moran came across dealing with a possible parallel world in an article titled “Missing neutrons may be visiting a parallel universe.”
“Neutrons may be traveling from our universe into parallel worlds and back again, according to a new theory that explains a rather odd phenomenon,” the article read. “Experiments at ultra-low temperatures carried about by Anatoly Serebrov at the Institut Laue-Langevin in France have revealed a phenomenon known as neutron loss, whereby neutrons appear to vanish for short periods.”
Tonal in nature but continuously shifting — never settling — the strings represented the traveling neutrons with an array of sound qualities including wavy, gently swelling, harsh or slowly ascending, for example. The sounds, in conjunction with the darkness, gave an ethereal feeling.
Moran appeared on stage at the conclusion of the piece, seeming to be very pleased with the musicians and their performance of his composition.
The atmosphere changed as the beautifully lyrical, “Air” for strings, by Arthur Foote, presented sweeping melodies and relaxed rhythms that created a sensation of gliding through the air.
Woodwinds and brass then joined the strings for Franz Schubert’s “Six German Dances, D. 820,” orchestrated by Anton Webern. Webern, known for his pointillistic twelve-tone music, stayed faithful to the classical style of Schubert with instrumentation. Throughout the piece, sweetly melodic dialogue was passed between the strings and pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and horns.
Combining the talent of instrumentalists and vocalists alike, the Masterworks Chorus — comprised of the Fredonia’s Women’s Choir, College Choir and Chamber Choirs — joined the College Symphony Orchestra to present what is considered to be Joseph Haydn’s greatest compositions, the “Missa in Angustiis,” or “Lord Nelson Mass.”
A powerhouse of a piece, it possesses a military tone with its stridence. Professor of Musicology, James Davis, suggests that “the unique character of the ‘Missa in Angustiis’ was shaped by Haydn’s musical world as much as the politics and warfare of it’s time.”
Throughout the entirety of the performance, faculty and alumni soloists Janet Brown (soprano), Laurie Tramuta (alto), Gerald Gray (tenor) and Jan Opalach (bass) complimented each other nicely with their clear quality of sound and precise articulations. Meanwhile, the 100-plus chorus captivated the audience with their resilient and full, resounding vocals. True anguish and disparity was evident with the intensity and meaningful harshness created by the multitude of musicians.
The difficulty of the piece was evident and with an ensemble of that size and stature, it was impressive how together the orchestra and Masterworks Chorus stayed. Rudge was overjoyed at the success of the performance.
“The chorus was prepared, the orchestra was excited and the soloists were fully professional,” Rudge said. “When people are truly collaborative, much can be accomplished.”
A reception was held post-performance in Mason 1080 to celebrate the performers and honor Dr. Karl Boelter for his 12 years as Director of the School of Music and Dr. Harry Jacobson for his 35 years as a School of Music faculty member.