Capital Region Performance Gallery

by Dick Frantzreb

On this Sunday afternoon, the Davis Chorale, under the direction of Alison Skinner, presented a concert titled “Sing Out, My Soul!” at the Davis High School’s Brunelle Hall. I made a point of attending this performance because I knew the Chorale had been working on their music a long time, perhaps longer than just about any other community chorus in our area. That impression was confirmed when Director Skinner later explained that they had started rehearsing last fall ─ outdoors in the cold and dark! It had only been fairly recently that they were able to be close enough in rehearsals to really hear each other. I wanted to attend this concert if for no other reason than to honor their work.

Pandemic mitigation steps are easing, if not falling away at most performing venues throughout the Sacramento region, so I was surprised by the requirement to both show proof of vaccination and wear a mask in the theater. I’m still hungry enough for good choral music that it was a minor convenience.

Waiting for the concert to begin, I reviewed the program, noting with a bit of surprise, that of the 6 composers represented, I had heard of only 2 of them (Beethoven and Brahms). The document itself consisted of two sides of a single sheet of paper. However, there was a QR code on the first page for the lyrics of the songs to be performed. I trained the camera app in my iPhone on it, and a link popped up to 8 pages of a file in Google Docs. With it, I was able to follow the lyrics as the Chorale performed ─ and it enhanced my appreciation of the music enormously. I wasn’t sitting where I could see anyone else using this capability, but it’s a brilliant enhancement to any choral concert. For one thing, the room is typically too dark to read words printed in a program, at least compared to the well-lit display of a smartphone. For another, minimizing paper saves money for the chorus and avoids unnecessary landfill.

(Click here to open the program in a new window.  Click here to open the lyric sheet in a new window.)

Promptly at a few minutes before 3:00, the singers ambled in and took their places on the risers. They were dressed all in black, though their outfits were different. I didn’t try to get an accurate estimate of the size of the audience, though I think it might have been as much as 150. I counted 39 singers on the risers. Like most reviving choral groups, the Davis Chorale has suffered a decline in the number of its members ─ almost 50% from its strength of over 80 a few years ago.

The concert began with “How Can I Keep from Singing?” From the first few notes, I was struck with the pure sound from the soprano section. This familiar hymn got a lively treatment in this arrangement. In one section, the men kept repeating “How can I keep from singing” while the women sang the main melody. There were engaging rhythmic changes throughout the piece, but the net effect was pleasant but stimulating listening ─ a great start to any choral performance.

At this point Skinner greeted the audience, recounting the difficulties they had endured to bring the concert to fruition. Then she explained that the program would fall into three sections: (1) the power of singing and song, (2) grief over life’s vicissitudes, and (3) the joy of overcoming hardship and moving forward with life.

With that introduction, the music proceeded with “Sing Evermore!” It is a song cycle of nine parts by Gwyneth Walker, and of these nine parts, the Chorale performed four. Before going on, I should mention that excellent choral sound that was to follow was enhanced by the expressive playing of LuAnn Higgs on piano and Maquette Kuper on the flute, a “singing lark” in the words of Director Skinner.

The first segment of “Sing Evermore!” was titled “Refuge,” and its lyrics were from “Love Songs” by World War I-era poet, Sara Teasdale. Here was where I began to really appreciate having the back-lit words on my phone, so that I could appreciate the emotive power of the music. I should add, however, that the articulation of the chorus was such that I could make out many of the lyrics without having to read them. This poem described a dark place in the writer’s spirit that yielded to the restorative effect of singing ─ summarized in her repeated words, “If I can sing…/ and when I sing,/ I sing, and I am free.”

The second section of “Sing Evermore!” was titled “The Gift to Sing,” and it was performed by the women alone. The lyrics came from another WWI-era poem, this one by James Weldon Johnson. Like the previous section, it extolled the therapeutic effect of singing when confronting life’s troubles. What I particularly took note of here was the great variety of interesting musical ideas that the composer used to convey the sense of the poem.

With the men joining the women again, the Chorale performed the third section titled, “Sky-Born Music,” with the lyrics from a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In my notes I wrote “This music is more introspective than emotive.” Thinking back on that, I have to agree that all music has an emotive impact. It’s just that it seemed to me at that point in the concert ─ built on these thoughtful poems ─ that the music was appealing more to my intellect than to my feelings. That said, there were especially beautiful lyric sections and choral artistry in this third segment of “Sing Evermore!” And I have to add that I noticed a particularly pleasing sound from the tenors when their part was highlighted.

The fourth section of “Sing Evermore!” was titled “Everyone Sang,” also part of a WWI-era poem. I have to say that all of this poetry must have cried out to composer Gwyneth Walker to be put to music.

Skinner introduced the next two pieces by Beethoven and Brahms as embodying the thought that our troubles are “out of our hands, and we’re still grieving” as you’ll see if you check the attached lyrics. Indeed, the music assumed a drastically different mood from what we had been hearing ─ not somber, but repressed, with flashes of emotion. For the Brahms, Skinner had given us some background about how the piece evolved from a compositional exercise, and she challenged us to follow the double-cannon based on intervals of ninths. (I’ll confess I failed to recognize the technique.)

As I listened, I reflected that this was anything but easy music. These were compositions that would stretch the capabilities of any good choir. But then, that’s why people join a chorus like the Davis Chorale. They join for the opportunity to sing serious music like this, in the company of other dedicated singers, and under an experienced, talented director. I might add that both of these pieces were sung in German, and it seemed to me that the singers’ pronunciation was quite good.

Skinner described the next piece, “Earth Song” by Frank Ticheli as a favorite of the group, one that they had first performed a number of years ago. And as if confirming that the piece was something they were especially looking forward to singing, I thought I perceived an extra measure of anticipation from the chorus while Skinner spoke.

As “Earth Song” was performed a cappella, it seemed to me that the music really evoked the passion of the text, e.g. “O war and power,/ You blind and blur./ The torn heart/ Cries out in pain.” I have to believe that listening to this was a compelling experience for the audience. And thinking about those on stage, I wrote in my notes: “What a joy to be able to learn and sing this music!”

Next on the program was “My Heart Be Brave” by Marques L.A. Garrett, based on a fragment of “Sonnet” by James Weldon Johnson. Skinner wanted us to appreciate the text to which the music would give life, so she read the whole poem to us, adding “I’d love for you to take that home with you today.” The message that she was referring to was the idea of putting troubles behind and getting on with life. As she said that, I think we were all thinking about the pandemic, and perhaps especially its impact on singers and audiences. The piece itself was clearly contemporary music with a lot of challenging harmonies to illustrate the conflicting forces on all our lives. And the final two lines were indeed memorable, “Tho’ thick the battle and tho’ fierce the fight,’ There is a power [in] making for the right.”

The final piece, “Sing Out, My Soul!” began with an excited cacophony ─ with the chorus members spontaneously speaking phrases (“Sing out!” or “Sing out, my soul!” or “Sing songs of joy!”) What followed was joyful singing with an intensely rhythmic piano part, a lyrical section, and then a fast-moving call-and-response section culminating in exciting harmonies and a shout. The feeling you got from the piece was irrepressible joy ─ a perfect way to conclude a concert. Or maybe I should say that the perfect conclusion came in the audience’s reaction ─ extended, animated applause.

This concert lasted only 50 minutes, but it involved many varieties of choral expression. It was creative, thoughtful programming with music that many other choruses would want to sing themselves.

The pandemic created a drought of choral music for singers and audiences. The Davis Chorale was among the first choruses in our region to resume activity, and they worked many months under unusually difficult conditions to bring out this performance. Indeed, it was a cool drink of water to a thirsty audience ─ and, I dare say, to the singers themselves.