Capital Region Performance Gallery

by Dick Frantzreb

Schola Cantorum is arguably the most accomplished church choir in the Sacramento area, owing largely to the high standards of its director, Donald Kendrick, and to the fact that those high standards draw excellent singers from throughout the Sacramento region. The choir sings at the 11:00 mass every Sunday, but it has also undertaken domestic and overseas tours and has produced nine compact discs.

The annual “From Heaven on High” concert series has been performed for 26 years, and I was hearing it for only the third time in 6 years. This Saturday evening concert would be followed by another on Sunday afternoon, and that was a good thing because on this evening the church, though not packed, was quite full. As I watched people entering and taking their seats, I imagined that a lot of those around me might have been congregants of Sacred Heart because many, who seemed to be arriving separately, were happily greeting each other. On the other hand, this annual performance is a tradition for many people, such as the Moes family (see the photo below).

Waiting for the concert to begin, I took note of my surroundings. Sacred Heart Church was built in 1931, and its architecture is based on Roman arches, which means there are a lot of columns throughout the church. Chandeliers overhead provided abundant light as I looked around. Seated on the bare wooden pews, one’s eye is drawn to the colorful ceilings above the crossing and the altar. Apart from them, the most prominent decorations to me were the large paintings along the side aisles designating the Stations of the Cross.

At the appointed time the audience was formally welcomed and the concert was introduced by spokesperson and choir member, James McCormick, who asked us to refrain from applauding until the end of the concert (which had no intermission).

With the singers grouped at the back of the church, the lights went out, and the first selection, “Angelus ad Virginem” started with an organ solo. Presently the singers began their part, essentially a multi-voice chant in Latin, still accompanied by the organ. The music included breaks in the singing, and during those breaks the choir processed down the center aisle of the church, led by Conductor Donald Kendrick, a large candle in his outstretched hand. Each singer was singing from a musical score with an attached light. Although the style of music seemed “chant-like” to me, the harmonies were not ancient, but decidedly contemporary, as was particularly noticeable in the organ accompaniment. In the last break in singing, the choir proceeded to the altar, and concluded the piece there.

With the choir in place, the lights in the church went up, and we saw 30 men and women of a mix of ages. The men were in tuxedos with (mostly) red bowties and cummerbunds. The women wore long, unaccented black dresses. Their second selection, “Song of the Nuns of Chester,” also in Latin, highlighted a trio of women in a vocal arrangement that complemented that of the full choir. You can find their names in the attached program, along with the names of accompanists, readers and soloists — and the title and composer of each musical section. Another nice feature of the program is that it includes the lyrics (and translation, if needed) of each musical offering.

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

This “Song of the Nuns of Chester” was interesting in that it was evocative of a convent. It began with the women singing a cappella. Then sections of the piece were separated by bells, as if to mark the daily routine of the nuns. Presently, the men of the chorus added their harmony to that of the women and the trio, and a gentle organ part began. The song built to a rich, multi-voice peak before a peaceful conclusion.

With just a couple of exceptions, the rest of the music in the concert was in English. Even at that, the acoustics of the church were so live that I could only occasionally make out the words of a song. That made me especially grateful for being able to follow the lyrics in the program, and doing so was a great help in appreciating the expressiveness with which these people were performing.

I should add that at least half of the music in this concert was performed a cappella, something I always appreciate because it exposes the choral harmonies, which I personally find so satisfying. It also highlights the vocal quality of the singers, and in the next piece, “Love Came Down at Christmas,” I was particularly impressed by the character of the men's singing — strong and rich without overbalancing the women. In fact, all the singing in this piece was exceptional, delivered without accompaniment, except for the lovely flute playing from Melanie Webb. My impression was confirmed by a whispered “beautiful” from someone near me when the song concluded.

There were 21 selections in this concert, and I don't propose to comment on all of them. But I can say that all but a few were completely unfamiliar to me. More importantly, they were quality compositions that afforded interesting, satisfying listening. And the variety of styles was extraordinary: no one could have been bored by the music presented on this evening. I consider all that to be an indication of the skill of Music Director Donald Kendrick. Having observed him closely for a relatively small part of his decades of experience as a choral director, I would venture to say that he devotes as much time to researching music and planning his programs as he does to crafting the performance of his singers. And the results in both areas have produced one fresh, excellent concert after another.

Keeping the audience's focus on exactly what this concert was celebrating — the birth of Jesus Christ — the musical selections were broken up by 3 Biblical readings. In fact, there was no question that this concert was a religious experience — for those who planned it, for those who performed it, and for the great majority of those who heard it.

Let's talk about the singers. You could call this a church choir, but what I heard was not the sound of any other church choir I've experienced. Each of the sections — soprano, alto, tenor and bass — produced a unified sound, and their blend when singing together was exceptional. For example, the women began the singing in “There Is No Rose,” and they sounded like a single voice. Then when the men joined them, the result was choral music that was unutterably delicate and beautiful. As I listened, I wrote in my notes, “gentle music lovingly delivered.”

These kinds of results are what you can achieve with a carefully auditioned choir. But who auditions is also important. My guess is that many of these people are excellent singers who have come from some distance, drawn by the opportunity to work with Kendrick and other accomplished singers. No less important is performing music that is interesting and that presents a challenge commensurate with one’s talent, training, and experience.

In the middle of this concert there was an audience singalong of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” I’ll confess that, since we had been asked to not applaud during the concert, it felt a little strange to stand and sing 3 verses of this familiar carol. And to tell the truth, the restraint we had been under probably resulted in more enthusiastic singing than might otherwise have been the case. We had to let something out, and singing was the vehicle for expressing our appreciation for what we had been hearing during the first half of the concert.

The first selection after the singalong was “Verbum Caro Factum Est,” and it was worthy of note because it was a double-chorus piece, the second chorus being provided by a mixed octet that moved offstage and into the church to give the appealing effect of not just 8 voice parts, but of the sense that at least some of us were surrounded by sound. Also interesting in this piece was the interplay of adventuresome, contemporary harmonies with those that seemed — to my ear, at least — quite traditional.

“The First Nowell” was the first familiar (to me, at least) carol, and this arrangement included 6 verses, each presented differently: traditional SATB, women only, men only, mostly piano, mostly forte, with descant. It concluded with a forceful refrain that had the women singing with a strong, pure, controlled sound at the top of their range, and I think they were the reason that someone near me let out a “whew” as the carol concluded.

The following selection, “Balulalow,” was especially memorable for me: I'd even venture to say that its unexpected harmonies had a mesmerizing effect. Perhaps that was because the choir brought out a special intensity in their singing as they embraced the dissonance of the song. At this and several points in this concert, I felt that I was experiencing something noteworthy in the way the music was being presented, and the word I used to describe it in my notes was “craftsmanship.”

“Go Tell It on the Mountain” gave me more to think about. This was a spiritual loaded with spirit, both in the arrangement and in its performance. There were key changes and innovative rhythms and harmonies, and as I listened to this musical tour de force, it struck me that excellent choirs don't sing boring arrangements.

In the “Sans Day Carol,” I heard great sensitivity to dynamics in the rise and fall of musical phrases. Then there was something quite different in the unaccompanied presentation of “My Lord Has Come,” which seemed to me to be a pure expression of faith, full of wonder and gentle rejoicing. By the time the choir got to “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree,” the thought came to me that I wasn't just hearing different styles of music:  with the care and artistic sense of singers and director, I was hearing a fresh personality in each succeeding song.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” was the second-to-last entry in tonight’s program, and I felt that the arrangement and performance brought out the intricate beauty that is rarely expressed in this familiar carol. In fact, here is the comment that I wrote in my notes after listening for the better part of 2 hours: “This group has found the artistry in each song and presented it faithfully.”

At this point, the lights in the church went out again, and the choir performed “Silent Night.” It was accompanied by the organ and the tempo was faster than usual for this well-loved music. Then in lieu of a third verse the accompaniment dropped out and the choir sang the carol in the native German.

We all knew there was one more piece on the program, so even though the lights had come back up, we refrained from applause at this logical juncture. Conductor Kendrick turned to us and spoke, inviting us to future concerts and summarizing the church’s coming Christmas observances. The final song, “Noe, Noe,” was not easy listening, full of adventurous chords and musical lines. But it was grand, initially conveying great excitement before turning reflective. And before the final notes had died away, the audience was on its feet, applauding and cheering what for so many had been a central part of their Christmas observance.

Conductor Donald Kendrick & the Moes Family from Sutter Creek Attending "From Heaven on High" is a 25-year family tradition for them.