08/11/2007
German choir delivers authentic show of sacred music
The Jakarta Post
Features - June 23, 2007
Camelia Pasandaran, Contributor, Jakarta
Twenty-seven men and women took to the stage at the Goethe-Institut Jakarta's concert hall on June 14, divided into three groups of eight to 10 and standing in a small semi-circle facing one another.
It was hard to imagine what the Konzertchor Darmstadt (the Germany-based Darmstadt Concert Choir) was going to do with their bizarre blocking. While choirs can be arranged in various creative ways in a performance, standing in a semi-circle was a rarity.
The choir, under the helm of Wolfgang Seeliger, had also made a unique entrance, coming in from the doors to the concert hall, singing as they walked up the aisles on the left and right, flanking the audience.
The audience waited to see how Seeliger would instruct his choir -- perhaps a hand signal for them to slowly open the semi-circle into a line, as is typical of choral performances?
But the puzzle remained as Seeliger exited the stage and the choir started to sing Cantate Domino.
This creative, yet unusual method of performance was not without meaning. Seeliger explained that they were demonstrating the way sacred music was sung in Germany around 1640.
"At that time, people sang in a circle without the presence of a conductor," he said.
Konzertchor Darmstadt had come to the capital as part of its Indonesian concert tour, which included a concert in Bandung, West Java, and in Manado, North Sulawesi . In Bandung , the choir also participated from June 10-13 in the 3rd Symposium on Church Choral Music.
"We want to introduce German sacred music, from works composed in the 16th century to scores composed in the modern era," said Seeliger.
The Jakarta concert was divided into two parts, the first filled with 16th century songs and one song from the Romantic era, the second with repertoire from the Romantic and Classical eras to modern pieces.
Of those songs sung in the first half, two that sounded most interesting were the very long Jesu, Meine Freude (Jesus, My Joy) and Ruf zu Maria (Prayer to Mary). Compared to others that sounded monotonous, Jesu, Meine Freude was imbued with frequent dynamics in tempo and volume change.
As for Ruf zu Maria, aside from its beautiful arrangement, the sopranos sang their part with high angelic voices, contrasting with the bass that carried a distinctive solemn atmosphere. The audience gave the choir a hearty applause following these pieces.
Through the first half of the concert, the Konzertchor Darmstadt showed how its 25 years of existence had perfected their skills. Their singing technique was impeccable, producing vigorous voices without yelling and maintaining precise tonality at both high and low pitch.
For each song, the choir members shifted positions to produce the best tonal quality.
For example, in singing F. Mendelssohn's Denn er hat Seinen Engein, they divided into two groups: women and male sopranos to stage right and tenor, baritone and bass to stage left. They sang with alternating techniques to match the lyrics, which tells of a group chanting a prayer of benediction to another group that was departing. Not many choirs can overcome the weak acoustics of Goethe's concert hall, but Konzertchor Darmstadt did so successfully.
Unfortunately, their technique was not accompanied by vivid expressions, and the repertoire of the first half was mostly the same and plain, thus leaving a dull impression. Sacred music can set the mood of the people in a service, but in a concert, a choir must go beyond the written music and good musicality.
Germany is home to many great classical music composers, and in attending the performance of a German choir, the audience might likely wish to hear a true interpretation of their compositions. But this remained unheard throughout the first hour of the concert, as the choir members were stuck with sheet music in their hands, preventing them from expressing freely.
The dreary atmosphere that clouded the concert suddenly lifted the Darmstadt choir sang Franz Liszt's Ave Verum, warming the audience's spirit in closing with a long and very soft "Amen".
Following this, they sung Anton Bruckner's Ave Maria, from the Romantic period. The male registers produced a poignant, soft voice that suddenly turned fortissimo (loud), which transformed the song from a mellow to a glorious one. When they ended the song with a majestic voice, the crowd applauded enthusiastically.
An important song in the second half that touched the audience's heart was one of only two English-language songs performed: Lead Me Lord, a modern song created by Darmstadt composer Arnell de Pano. The men led the cantus firmus (main melody) and the other registers blended into a harmony with more dynamics. The closing high note from the sopranos and Seeliger's simultaneous jump awed concertgoers, who responded with a standing ovation.
That would have been the perfect song to end the concert, but Seeliger continued with the well-known Ave Verum Corpus by W.A. Mozart and transcribed by Liszt. It seemed Seeliger still had a trick or two up his sleeve, and it is no wonder he is dubbed a creative and innovative conductor.
At times, however, this could be confusing, and the concert program was slightly unclear -- for example, the songs on the program were not sung in order. Moreover, additional songs that were not listed were also sung.
Still another surprise was in store for the audience after the solemn Ave Verum Corpus, when the choir members all placed their music sheet on the floor and rushed backstage -- and returned holding an angklung, a West Javanese bamboo instrument.
"It is a new instrument for us, but we feel that we can play it," said Seeliger by way of introduction. The Konzertchor then played a traditional lullaby, Guten Abend, Gute Nacht, and the audience started to sing along in Indonesian as requested by the conductor.
Seeliger had actually rehearsed another song with angklung: Indonesian composer Christian Tamaela's Toki Gong. Because no Indonesian choir was available to sing with the German choir, the piece was canceled.
After the angklung music, the choir sung two closing tunes. This time, their hands free of sheet music, they sang Am Brunnen vor dem Tore (The Linden Tree), a traditional German tune.
On leaving the stage, they waved and sang Goodbye My Sweetheart acappella with the men taking on the part of musical instruments.
Seeliger's performance must be lauded, as he really showed what a conductor should be. He led the choir effectively and attempted to draw out the emotions of the choir to create the mood of the concert and finally, closed it with a memorable finale.
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