Angelic liturgies

I attended one of the Seattle Symphony's three performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony last night at Benaroya Hall.  The Ninth is one of classical music's "Top Hits," obviously, and the Saturday night performance was sold out. 

The "warm-up" act, and its composer, on the other hand, were new to me and I suspect to many in attendance --  the Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine, by Olivier Messiaen.  Messiaen was a French composer who was held as a prisoner of war by the Germans early in World War II, but who continued composing while a prisoner, and for many years following his release.  He was a devout Catholic, and his strong faith was evidenced in the choral libretto of last night's composition.  According to written materials -- which I'm not qualified to discuss intelligently -- his works generally are complex melodically and harmonically.  Certainly, the performance last night didn't contain tunes that one whistled as he walked out to intermission.

The Trois petites liturgies was written for female chorus, orchestra and piano.  The Seattle Symphony's director, Ludovic Morlot, explained in opening remarks that he substituted a boys' choir for the female chorus, because of the "angelic purity" of their voices. The choir was accompanied by piano and a pared down portion of the full orchestra.

Morlot's choice for the singers -- a choice obvious to Seattleites -- was the Northwest Boychoir.  Their performance -- and thus the overall performance of the Messiaen work -- was stunning.  I had attended performances by the Northwest Boychoir a couple of times in the past -- both times for an annual Seattle Christmas event called "Festival of Lessons and Carols," a beautiful seasonal offering typical of Anglican services in large British cathedrals.  Highly enjoyable, but the kind of singing I expect to hear from any well-trained boys chorus.  Nothing prepared me for the performance last night.

The boys, a group of 35 to 40 pre-adolescents -- sang continuously for about 35 minutes.  They sang, not supported by the orchestra so much as in cooperation with it.  The score varied rapidly from moment to moment in both tempo and dynamics.  Unlike the case with hymns or Christmas carols, the singers could not rely on a predictable progression up and down a standard scale -- the score jumped all over the soprano range, and each singer needed to hit unerringly the correct pitch with each sung note.

The poetic lyrics, written by the composer himself, together with their translation filled nearly three full pages of the concert program. The boys sang in French.

Anyone who has tried to get five or more 10 to 12-year-olds to focus on a single task is well aware that the chore is like herding cats.  These kids showed both innate talent and a learned self-discipline that amazed me.

I have no idea how many alumni of Northwest Boychoir go on to professional singing careers.  Most, I suspect, don't.  But Seattle is fortunate to have this source of local talent from which to draw.