TYLER MASON-DRAFFEN
Special to The Leader
Faculty members, students and other guests filled Rosch Recital Hall last Sunday night for the Celebration of Songs by Benjamin Britten, whose one-hundredth birthday was celebrated. The show ended with a standing ovation, following the music that was sung and played by School of Music faculty members tenor Joe Dan Harper, baritone Alexander Hurd and harpist Sonja Inglefield, just to name a few.
Stephanie Doche, a senior music performance and education major, felt that it was one of the best performances she’s seen from these faculty members and she could tell that, “they really loved sharing Britten’s work with everybody.”
Gifted in his compositional response to poetry and the written word, Britten’s musical style is characterized as being “highly idiosyncratic,” and his peculiarity in many of his songs, operas and choral works is what makes his music so recognizable and remarkable in the 20th century.
It showed throughout the concert, too.
The concert opened with a very expressive selection of songs performed by Harper and pianist Anne Kissel. The performance was so distinctly clear that program notes did not appear to be necessary.
The selection of pieces from Britten’s set On This Island—his first song set to be published—deals with the desires that have yet to be fulfilled. During the time Britten created this set, he was yet to be discovered, both in the world as an artist and in himself.
Amanda Conte, a voice performance graduate student at SUNY Fredonia, mentioned that students could have a “new appreciation for folk music” after the selected folk songs performed by three voice faculty members and Inglefield. “Each singer has a unique voice and passion for the text of Benjamin Britten,” said Conte.
This was certainly true as each singer took a turn to sing a selection with the harp-
ist; the harmony between harp and voice was such a wonderful combination that is not regularly heard. Typical folk songs are very simplistic in the accompaniment (usu- instruments like the piano), but Britten wanted to heighten the songs to something more than that.
Folk songs, which are usually outlined like a typical pop song today, leave us sing- ing a song after the performance is done. With the amazing dexterity of the harpist, these songs left a lasting impression on the audience.
One of the more daunting, yet dazzling, sets was performed by Lynne McMurtry, mezzo-soprano, and Alison d’Amato, pianist. A Charm of Lullabies was the only set Britten wrote for a mezzo-soprano.
When taking a look at some of the words for each piece, it seems like a regular lullaby; “Sleep, sleep, beauty bright, Dreaming o’er the joys of night…”, lyrics from Notebook by William Blake). It is quite the opposite.
There was a creepy underlay as d’Amato played and McMurtry sang, especially in the song “A Charm.” During sections of the set, most memorable at the end, McMurtry sang without the piano, which showed how mothers usually sing to their children with nothing but the sound of their voice. Although this set was quite moving, mothers would probably not want to sing its songs to their children.
Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, the last set performed by Harper and McMurtry with d’Amato on piano, was a crowd favorite. The two singers started with their backs towards the audience singing in unison, personifying God. The scene got more dramatic as Harper, who played Abraham reveals to his son Isaac, played by McMurtry that he must kill him as an offering to God.
These scenes were very powerful and was set like a dramatic reading. Some might be confused as to why Britten wrote the part of Isaac as a woman. McMurtry says, “Britten worked with a lot of boy singers and he wrote the part so that it was doable for a young boy, as well as a countertenor.” She also states, for those who do not know, “The tradition in opera, often, women sing young boy characters, like Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro.” For this concert, there was not a countertenor available, but McMurtry did just as well.
Greg Paladino, a senior piano major, mentioned that one of the most exciting things about going to these concerts is, “It is a really unique experience to hear members of the faculty perform something because it’s a great example.” Most of the audience members were, in fact, music majors, but there were a few non-majors that came to tag along with their friends. For those students who might not walk the halls of Mason everyday, these concerts welcome everyone.
“Not many people seem to realize around the school that we [students at Fredonia] have such amazing faculty,” said Paladino.