By Nancy Plum
The last sung Hebrew words of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms quote Psalm 133: “Behold how good, and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity.” The final movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 sets Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” with particular emphasis on the words “Brother” and “Joy.” These concepts of going forth in harmony were a fitting way for the Princeton University Orchestra and Glee Club to end the academic year and launch the University seniors into their next chapter.
The two ensembles joined forces this past weekend to present the poignant and relevant works of Bernstein and Beethoven, closing the season in combined Stuart Mindlin and Walter Nollner Memorial Concerts. Led by Orchestra conductor Michael Pratt and Glee Club director Gabriel Crouch, the two performances at Richardson Auditorium also recognized student achievement both by acknowledging the graduating class and featuring student soloists in both works.
Friday evening’s concert (repeated Saturday night) opened with a Bernstein teaser. The composer’s 1971 Mass included a round for chorus serving as a thematic precursor to the “theatre piece.” Henry Hsiao, a University senior and member of the Glee Club’s bass section, cleanly led Bernstein’s “warm-up” to focus the choristers on the tasks ahead through rhythmic clapping and sung syllabic phrases. Singing mostly from memory, the 90 members of the Glee Club displayed a light and well-defined sound.
Bernstein was commissioned in 1965 by England’s Chichester Cathedral for a choir festival piece. The resulting Chichester Psalms set Biblical Hebrew texts in both rhythmic complexity and lyrical melodies, with an overriding tone of peace and serenity. Conducted by Crouch, the Glee Club began Bernstein’s three-movement work in a quick and joyous tempo, with the choristers easily finessing the jazzy 7/4 meter. With seven percussionists in the accompanying University Orchestra, rhythmic drive was continually propelled forward.
A solo vocal quartet drawn from the Glee Club complemented the choral texture. Soprano Madeleine Murnick, alto Bonnie Ko, tenor Nicholas Hu, and bass Robert Mohan sang the solo lines with confidence and accuracy, with Murnick in particular providing an ethereal high soprano line at the close of the work. The second movement, setting the words of Psalm 23, was scored for solo boy soprano principally accompanied by two harps. Luca Kang, selected by audition from a North Jersey children’s chorus, was a poised and unassuming performer, and had the part well in hand. Kang expressively sang Bernstein’s tranquil melody as Crouch efficiently led the transitions between choral and solo passages. A solo trumpet and lush strings guided the chorus through the lyrical Bernstein melody in the third movement, as the choral lines came together to express “unity” on a unison final note.
With its themes of universal brotherhood and joy over adversity, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 was not only an appropriate companion to the reverence of Bernstein’s work, but also a vehicle for the University Orchestra musicians to strut their stuff. These two works were additionally connected by the Christmas 1989 performance in Berlin in which Bernstein conducted Beethoven’s Symphony to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Conductor Michael Pratt began the familiar opening “Allegro” with almost imperceptible strings before the music took off in Beethoven fury. Pratt and the Orchestra easily found dramatic contrasts in the opening passages amid rhythms and Romantic melodic material.
An army of lower strings provided a rich foundation for the sound, aided by wind sections expertly led by flutist Heidi Gubser, oboist Abigail Kim, clarinetist Daniel Kim, and bassoonist Christopher Li. Much of the musical solidity came from a subtle quintet of horns which knew exactly when to build volume, as well as the unshakeable timpani playing of Shivam Kak. Graceful pizzicato playing from the cellos and elegant phrase direction marked the second movement, in which the Orchestra found a bit of rollicking effect.
The fourth movement of this symphony is often what audiences come to hear, with music extending the range and technical requirements of both singers and instrumentalists. The four vocal soloists were University students — Talia Czuchlewski, mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Liberman, tenor Arturo Cruz Urrutia, and baritone Evan Shidler were well-blended as a quartet, and Pratt wisely kept the orchestral sound more restrained during their solos. Czuchlewski and Liberman were especially well paired in duet passages.
Urrutia sang the extended tenor solo in the “march” section of this movement with clarity and was crisply answered by the chorus on the text of “brotherhood.” The vocal range for the choral sopranos was brutal, but the choristers of the Glee Club kept a clean sound on the endless high “As.” The sopranos and altos notably well-handled difficult exposed passages on the words “above the canopy of stars must dwell a loving father.” Homophonic four-part choral passages were clear, as the Orchestra and Glee Club brought the Symphony, and the academic year, to a stirring close with an invitation to musicians and listeners alike for “Freude.”