An English Springtime with the RPO

An English Springtime - Leeds Castle

Gwen with Grace Wong

It was a privilege and an honor for Concentus to be invited to perform again with the RPO – this time on stage! And we weren't just singing a 4-minute vocal accompaniment (our other “appearance” was off-stage for Holst's The Planets), but several pieces, with actual lyrics. I was ambivalent about the concert, though, since it was some of my least favorite music (although I really liked the juicy Holst Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda). For example, I think of Morley's Now is the Month of Maying as a high school piece. Our conductor, Gwen Gassler, tried to negotiate a different song, but the RPO powers that be were determined – they obviously wanted something that would be familiar and appeal to the audience. Gwen wisely gave it some interesting nuances, though, that added some pizazz. And I never warmed to our centerpiece, Vaughn Williams' twee Folk Songs of the Four Seasons, with its “Summer is a-coming in, loudly sing cuckoo” and the like. Most of it was two-part, so the most challenging aspect seemed to be enunciating all of the lyrics in some of the faster-tempo movements.

Gwen & Daniel Meyer
conferring on the Holst

"Sing more horizontally!"

But it finally came together this week, starting with our rehearsal with the very talented and insightful guest conductor, Daniel Meyer. Gwen had prepared us well; we had very few musical issues, so he was able to focus on getting the tone and mood that he wanted. He instructed us to sing more horizontally, and less note-for note, in some passages. And in the "Hymn to the Waters" of the Rig Veda, he gave us the expressive image of singing bubbles on the water. Meyer himself has a beautiful voice; as Gwen commented, you could imagine him having performed in musical theatre at school. At our initial rehearsal with the orchestra, it quickly became clear that our 20 voices couldn't compete with the instruments, especially given our position behind them, so he downsized them to a more chamber-like group.

The most enjoyable aspect of this experience, for me, was the chorus' vantage point. From upstage, we could see Meyer's facial expressions and the way his eyes danced to match his body movements. It was also fascinating to watch the French horn players, who were closest to us, and to have a different perspective on the strings players. It might be interesting if the RPO, in its quest to make the orchestra experience more audience-friendly, would consider making performances more visual, by adding projections of conductor and musician close-ups (as you'd have on TV). 

The RPO was in its usual top form, and we received lots of post-concert compliments, even from our biggest critics - two of our members, hoarse from colds, who were sadly stuck in the audience!