December 8, 2023
Cathedral of St. Philip
Atlanta, Georgia – USA
Atlanta Symphony Brass & Percussion; Dale Adelmann, conductor; Caroline Robinson, organ; John Lemley, narrator.
Giovanni GABRIELI/arr. Haislip: Jubilate Deo
William BERRY (arr.): We Need a Little Christmas
William BYRD/arr. Allen: Earl of Oxford March
Salomone ROSSI/arr. Moore: Eftah Na SaFatai
Leroy ANDERSON/arr. Miller: Sleigh Ride
Mel TORME & Robert WELLS/arr. Hanson: The Christmas Song
Traditional French/arr. Zimmerman: Angels We Have Heard on High
John Francis WADE/arr. Harvey: O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste fideles)
Traditional Irish/arr. Snedecor: The Wexford Carol
Traditional Catalan/arr. DiLorenzo: Fum, Fum, Fum
Traditional French/arr. Harvey: Il est né le divin Enfant – Noël nouvelet – Patapan
John RUTTER: Prelude on “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”
Anthony DiLORENZO: ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
attr. G.F. HANDEL/arr. DiLorenzo: Joy to the World
Mark Gresham | 11 DEC 2023
On Friday evening, an ensemble comprised mostly of members of the Atlanta Symphony Orhestra’s brass and percussion sections, augmented by top local freelancers, returned to the Cathedral of St. Philip to present the sixth iteration of their Holiday Concert, comprised of late Renaissance works, traditional Christmas carols, and popular Christmas standards, arranged for brass and percussion ensemble. The Cathedral’s Canon for Music, Dale Adelmann, conducted the assembled performing forces, which also included organist Caroline Robinson and radio personality John Lemley. Friends of Cathedral Music presented the concert with assistance from the Atlanta Brass Society, Inc.
Let’s address the music out of concert order, the three late Renaissance works first:
The concert was launched with Jubilate Deo by the Italian organist and composer Giovanni Gabrieli (c. mid-1550s – 1612), an 8-part motet from the composer’s Sacrae Symphoniae (1597). One of the most influential musicians during the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque Era, Gabrieli’s music marks the culmination of the Venetian School. The expectation in Gabrieli’s time was that voices, instruments, or both would perform the music. Nevertheless, the program credits Douglas D. Haislip for the arrangement played here; trumpets play the upper four parts and trombones the lower four, with some occasional reinforcement of the bottom bass line by a tuba.
Jubilate Deo was performed at a stately tempo, with a more “vocal” approach by Adelmann and the brass. However, a slightly faster and more “jubilant” approach might have better served the concert’s opening moments.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is the most famous keyboard manuscript of the English Renaissance, containing nearly three hundred pieces. Among them is The Earl of Oxford March by William Byrd (1543 – 1623), a piece well-known to early music enthusiasts. This transcription for brass and percussion is rightfully stately and was well-measured and not too fast, with its drums contributing the impression of pomp before a battle by the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford.
Another sacred motet performed instrumentally was Eftah Na SaFatai (1622) by Salomone Rossi (1570-1630) an Italian Jewish violinist and composer who, like Gabrieli, was a transitional figure between the late Renaissance period and early Baroque. Rossi was an Italian Jewish violinist and composer who, from 1587, served as a court musician in Mantua. The 7-voice Eftah Na SaFatai (“I open my lips to sing”) was a setting of a Hebrew liturgical poem by the 14th-century rabbi Matthias ben Isaac. Michael Moore, ASO principal tuba who played in this concert, is credited with this brass ensemble arrangement.
All of the above make for good brass music, although none of them is Christmas music per se (the closest being Gabrieli’s Jubilate Deo.).
The ensemble played arrangements of both secular Holiday fare and traditional Christmas carols to achieve that objective.
The first of the former was “We Need a Little Christmas,” in a clever arrangement by William Berry that incorporated quotes from other Holiday songs like “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Sleigh Ride,” “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” “Fum, Fum, Fum,” and even “Hallelujah” from Handel’s Messiah. Several of these tunes would reappear later in the concert as the focus of their own arrangements.
Among those was “Sleigh Ride” (1948) by Leroy Anderson, a light orchestral pops standard first performed by the Boston Pops, with Arthur Fiedler conducting. Lyrics were added only later, in 1950, by Mitchell Parish. The imitation of a horse whinny at the end, made by a trumpet, is one of its signature sonic markers. David J. Miller made this arrangement for brass and percussion.
“Sleigh Roide” was followed by the classic holiday standard, “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”), written in 1945 by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells. Nat King Cole recorded it four times, the definitive one being his final 1961 version. David Hanson arranged the brass version heard in Friday’s concert.
Of traditional Christmas carols, we first heard the Cathedral’s magnificent Aeolian-Skinner, Op. 1399, played by organist Caroline Robinson, in the final work of the last half: and arrangement of the French carol “Angels we Have Heard on High,” arranged for brass and organ by Tim Zimmerman.
After intermission, the audience was invited to join the music-making in the well-known carol, “O Come All Ye Faithful” (“Adeste fideles”), whose tune is credited to the English composer John Francis Wade, as arranged by Roger Harvey.
A sequence of traditional carols for the brass followed: the Irish “Wexford Carol” arranged by Phil Sendedcor; “Fum, Fum, Fum” (Catalan) arranged by Anthony DiLorenzo; then a compilation of three French carols arranged by Roger Harvey as Fantasy de Nöel: “Il est né le divin Enfant,” “Noël nouvelet,” and “Patapan.” (Yes, Francophiles, the composer should have titled it “Fantaisie de Noël.”)
Then Ms. Robinson was featured in an organ solo: John Rutter’s Prelude on “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”
The penultimate work on the program was also the most problematic: Anthony DiLorenzo’s musical setting of one of the most well-known verses in English literature, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (the poem was originally titled “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”) by Clement Clarke Moore (though some dispute exists, some claiming the author was really Henry Livingston, Jr.). DiLorenzo’s music mixes familiar styles and tunes with original material to portray the dramatic flow of the narration.
Radio host and producer John Lemley. (johnlemley.net)
The poetic narration was by John Lemley, a well-known radio personality in Atlanta since 1997 when he moved from his native Birmingham, Alabama, to work at local NPR affiliate WABE-FM, then subsequently at the eclectic WGKA-AM, and is currently host and producer of John Lemley’s City Cafe at Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB).
The problems were not with Mr. Lemley’s narration but its amplification (or lack thereof) over the Cathedral’s public address system. He simply could not be heard from my ninth-row seat, the row at the back edge of the Cathedral’s Crossing area between the Transepts. It was not a matter of the brass being “too loud” (as one audience member complained after the concert), but lack of delivery of Mr. Lemley’s voice by the public address system (or its handling). The same problem was present when either Dale Adelman or Michael Moore spoke to the audience between some numbers. I could barely hear them from my ninth-row pew and seriously could not understand what they were saying.
That amplification problem carried over to Lemley’s narration, with its brass ensemble underscoring. When the music was soft or spare, I was barely aware of his vocal presence, but when the brass were playing at a moderate volume, he might as well have been miming.
Here is where we get into architecture, acoustics, and the modern premise of amplification. It appears there are only two P.A. speakers to the fore of where I was sitting, which were positioned near where the Crossing meets the Choir. But other P.A. speakers are said to be scattered farther back throughout the Nave.
Floorplan of Amiens Cathedral, Freance, enumerating the architectural elements of a typical cathedral. (Public Domain / Wikimedia)
Okay, perhaps I sat in the wrong place, too close for the amplification of speaking voices (although it was billed as part of he premium patron seating area). But I don’t have personal evidence to counter my experience of that concert, nor did those around me (including the person who thought the brass simply too loud for Lemley’s thoroughly professional voice).
(Perhaps Mr. Lemley could read the poem for us again on the air, voice alone, during City Cafe, right before Christmas?)
But there is also a matter of the Cathedral’s Crossing being a “problematic area” even without this amplification issue. Side-to-side listening among performers between the transepts can be an issue, as it was occasionally in Friday’s concert. I experienced that problem in spades some years ago at a concert by the Danish Radio Choir, performing a double-chorus piece (without separating into two clearly antiphonal groups, one in either transept, which might have been a solution).
That aside, the Cathedral’s resonant, wet acoustics work well for brass overall, and especially for its esteemed Aeolian-Skinner organ. Sitting closer to the performers, as I did, perhaps afforded more definition to the ensemble’s sound; while farther back (one would guess) more of a uniform sonic aura.
The final work on the printed program was another DiLorenzo carol arrangement: “Joy to the World,” first attributed to being “from” George Frederic Handel by the Boston composer and publisher Lowell Mason — perhaps to help sell Mason’s hymnals.
After an enthusiastic ovation, there was an encore, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” A final affirmation of the good cheer brought forth by this amiable concert. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: aso.org
- Cathedral Friends of Music: cathedralatl.org/worship/music/friends-of-cathedral-music
- Atlanta Brass Society: atlantabrass.com
Read more by Mark Gresham.
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