Tickets are on sale now for The Joy of Christmas! at the Strathmore Music Center
Monday, December 20th 8:00pm!
Review: Joy of Christmas, Joe Banno
Positive responses to music director J. Reilly Lewis's "Joy of
Christmas" programs with his Cathedral Choral Society have become almost
as much a tradition of the season as the concerts.But, as Saturday's annual presentation proved again, these are the
smartest, least-hackneyed and most musically satisfying of the plentiful
choral events on offer in the Washington area each December.The cathedral, of course, always adds powerfully to the atmospherics at
work - whether wrapping an evocative halo around the divided-chorus
antiphony in Elizabeth Poston's "Jesus Christ the Apple Tree" during
Saturday's opening Advent wreath procession, or providing crisp
reverberation to the athletically virtuosic brass-quintet playing from
members of the Washington Symphonic Brass. But the fresh repertoire on offer brought comparable rewards, with a mix
of rarely heard material from Felix Mendelssohn and 16th-century
composer Jacob Handl, and lovely contemporary pieces by Stephen
Caracciolo, Alexander L'Estrange, Frank La Rocca and Richard Wayne
Dirksen.The premiere of a newly commissioned carol, "The Nine Gifts" by Robert
Chilcott, revealed a warmly consonant charmer. But there was challenging
pungency in the torrential onslaught of Adolphus Hailstork's Toccata on
"Veni Emmanuel," played with great verve by organist Todd Fickley. Even
that tired chestnut of Christmas choral concerts, the guest appearance
by a high school chorus, was elevated here by the pure tone, rich blend
and superior musicianship of the Maret School Concert Choir, which,
under James Irwin's sensitive baton, more than held its own against the
rarefied beauty of the Cathedral Choral Society.The program will be repeated in the airy, if more secular, acoustics of Strathmore Hall on Dec. 20.
- Joe Banno
In preparation for this season's Joy of Christmas performances, we sat down with composer and conductor, Stephen Caracciolo to get the scoop on his biggest influences and inspirations. Hear his work -"The Lamb" from Songs of Innocence - in action at this season's Joy of Christmas performances at Washington National Cathedral and the Music Center at Strathmore
How old were you when you first seriously considered
making music your career?
About 12. I was singing in a men and boys choir and fell
in love with the whole idea of making music with others. The Anglican liturgy
was beautiful, and the way music, liturgical action, and spoken word was
combined has informed the rest of my life.
Who supported and inspired you to make the choice?
First my mother, second my HS choral conductor.
Do you have a pre-composition ritual or practice that
helps you get started?
Not really. Finding good texts is the hardest thing for
me. I'm really selective.
Which composers most influence your style?
Almost anyone British, any era.. Also, as strange as this
may sound, Alfred Burt, whose carols I sang in high school. His tonal style but
with near "jazz" colorings I find creeping into my music even when I
didn't intend it too. Have you ever taken a Burt Carol and added a rhythm
section to it? You get something close to a jazz chart. Sometimes my scores
have that same character. "The Lamb" has seventh chords, and added
note chords, and twists of harmony that sound something close to jazz if you
add a "beat".
In light of the recent economic downturn, what advice
would you give to aspiring singers and composers?
Become very good at your craft while still diversifying.
My real job is serving as a conductor and teacher, but I compose and sing on
the side. Enjoy working with people. Get some business experience in while you
are young, you may have the opportunity to work in arts administration to help
support yourself. Get into the very best university program you can, aim high.
Most importantly, after you graduate with whatever degree, do not be afraid to simply
volunteer your time to other musical artists and professionals whom you respect
in your community. Established mentors in the field can help you find a
productive slot in the local musical scene. If I had my life to live over, that
is what I would do.
Could you briefly tell us about the creation of The Lamb?
If I recall, "The Lamb" was one of those Summer
Christmas itches. I settled on the text, wrote the melodic material first, then
created the harmonies around that. A very simple construction. My scores tend
to explore the tension between dissonance and consonance. Where is the harmony
going? How tight can I twist the dissonances before I release them? That
character is especially clear in this short setting; at "We are called by
his name", for instance. Just weeks after completing this text, I received
a new commission, so I selected three additional Blake texts and created a set,
"The Songs of Innocence". Thank you for singing the setting of
"The Lamb" from that set. I look forward to seeing you at next
Monday's rehearsal.
Stephen Caracciolo is a choral conductor recognized for his passionate
artistry, creative teaching, and is a nationally known composer and
arranger whose choral works have been performed throughout the United
States and Europe. Mr. Caracciolo is currently Assistant Professor of voice and conducting at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
October 8thmarks the 140th
anniversary of Louis Victor Jules Vierne, famed French organist and no stranger
to tragedy. Although the dramatic extent of Vierne’s life varies among sources,
one cannot deny the presence of some unfortunate circumstances appearing in his
music.
Vierne was born in 1870 to doting parents in Poitiers.
Facing the odds from the beginning, Vierne suffered from congenital cataracts
rendering him nearly blind. Previously thought to be inoperable, his father, a
journalist, facilitated an operation by the inventor of the iridectomy – the introduction
of an artificial pupil to the iris. This revolutionary procedure allowed Vierne
to be what we consider today, legally blind.
Although severely visually impaired, Vierne was not without
tremendous talent. His musical inclination was visible at a very early age and
fostered by his uncle, Charles Colin, professor of Oboe at the Paris
Conservatory and winner of the Prix de Rome.
Although Colin was an accomplished oboist – his works still performed
widely – he was also an organist, and first introduced his new nephew to the
instrument on which he excelled.
At age 11, Vierne lost his uncle to an acute respiratory
illness and found himself simultaneously devastated with grief but with a
renewed fervor to pursue a career as an organ recitalist. His father continued
to be supportive both emotionally and financially until the time of his death which would come prematurely.
By the age of 15, Vierne had learned to read Braille as a result of partial
blindness, become an organ phenomenon and lost his two strongest mentors and
supporters – his uncle, and now his father.
Determined to persevere as an organist and composer, Louis
Vierne became a pupil of the renowned Cesar Franck at the Paris Conservatory. One
year later, no stranger to tragedy, the young man found himself another loss with
which to contend. Cesar Franck was killed suddenly as the result of a tragic
traffic incident. Vierne continued his studies at the conservatory haunted by
the death of so many seminal figures in his life at the young age of 19.
Vierne’s career took off, and he was appointed assistant
organist at Church of Saint-Sulpice. After winning a fierce competition, he was
finally appointed organist of the Cathedral at Notre Dame and married soprano,
Arlette Taskin. Vierne took many pupils that would later become fixed marks in
music, including Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Duruflé. Things were looking up.
But tragedy has a way of following us around. Over the next
decade, Louis Vierne would divorce his wife as a result of her affair with his friend, an
organ-builder – oh the irony. He would lose both brothers in the battlefields of
World War 1, lose a child to tuberculosis and nearly lose his own leg in an
automobile accident that would come close to costing his career at the organ. This is
where most people would give up and live a life of relative obscurity.
Not Vierne. He continued composing, teaching and performing. He
even embarked on a North American tour to raise funds for the restoration of
his beloved instrument at Notre Dame that had fallen into disrepair. The tour included a performance on the Wanamaker Organ in
Philadelphia. Through the face of
immense personal tragedy, Vierne’s career flourished. Music was his refuge, and
he often remarked to friends that he wished his death to be in the midst of
creation, to die while at the organ.
On June 2nd, 1937 with Maurice Duruflé at this
side, Louis Vierne got his wish. He suffered a heart attack at the Cathedral of
Notre Dame, on the bench mid-performance, at the console of his beloved instrument that never let him down. When
he collapsed, his foot hit the E pedal, echoing relief and peace throughout the
Nave of Notre Dame.
In December, singers from the Cathedral Choral Society were invited to perform at the White House for the Executive Branch and Press Corps holiday parties. We graciously received a photo this week to commemorate the event and would like to share it with you all! This photo was given to us with written permission by the White House Photo Office for use on the CCS Facebook page and this blog. Any other usage will be considered unlawful. We thank you in advance for your cooperation!
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
On Sunday, a broad swath of Washington's music community turned out to
celebrate one of its pillars, the choral conductor and organist J.
Reilly Lewis, who celebrated his 25th anniversary as the head of the
Cathedral Choral Society with a typically informal, personal event
called "Reilly and Friends."
In the classical world, 25 years is a drop in the bucket -- Norman
Scribner, founder of the Choral Arts Society, is currently wrapping up
his 45th anniversary season with that group, and Lewis himself has
served for more than 30 years as head of the Washington Bach Consort.
But the anniversary was an excuse for many to come cheer the popular
Lewis -- including Scribner himself, who conducted one of the pieces.
The concert at Washington National Cathedral included everyone from the
Washington Ballet (Andile Ndlovu danced an athletic if stylistically
incongruous interpretation of the aria from the "Goldberg" Variations)
to the Washington Symphonic Brass to the kids of the St.
Albans-National Cathedral Schools Chorale, the girls in purple
patterned skirts that made a funky contrast to the demure purple
ruffle-necked robes sported by the smallest members of the cathedral's
Choir of Men and Boys.
Lewis's musical autobiography, as presented here, was intimately
bound up with the cathedral, whose difficult acoustic he made a virtue
by placing choruses in different parts of the building to highlight the
ways the sound ricocheted off the high pale stone. It was also bound up
with a tradition of sacred music distinct from the 19th-century
classical canon, and, like the cathedral itself, somewhat newer: The
early 20th-century French and Belgian organ composers Lewis has loved
(he played Maurice Duruflé's Toccata himself), and the living composers
he has worked with. One highlight was the world premiere of Dominick
Argento's "The Choir Invisible"; the composer set a thoughtful and
slightly convoluted text by George Eliot with gentle declamatory grace.
A third component, inevitably, was Bach, in several incarnations,
including the familiar Sinfonia melody from Cantata No. 156 played
respectably on cello by the head of the Washington Performing Arts
Society, Neale Perl, in the unaccustomed role of performer.
A 25th anniversary is an active thing: still in progress, not truly
venerable. Rather than the hush of ancient tradition, Sunday's concert
exuded the ruddy good health of the comfortably middle-aged. The
choruses entered to a plump, Wagner-influenced Richard Strauss
processional from 1909, and exited, at the end of a long afternoon, to
the raucous mewlings of a gaggle of bagpipers and the accompanying
drummers from the St. Andrew's Society. After leading the crowd
outdoors, the pipers stood in a semicircle in front of the cathedral
and continued to play: the focus of a community, standing around them
soaking up the music, and the sun.
Champagne Reception
In honor of Maestro Lewis' 25th Anniversary Season, there will be a champagne reception immediately following the concert. Tickets to the reception are $25 a person.
Free parking in the Cathedral underground garage courtesy of the Cathedral Choral Society
We’ve been in a celebratory mood lately, alive with excitement and preparation for events commemorating our esteemed music director’s 25th anniversary with the Cathedral Choral Society. J. Reilly Lewis has become a mainstay on the DC choral scene and provided invaluable artistic insight and leadership to all involved with this organization.
Reilly began his career at age 8 as a member of the Junior Boy Choir at Washington National Cathedral. We can’t think if a more fitting place to celebrate his career and contributions than right here where it all began. Next weekend will mark what we like to call The Trio of Tributes. Our annual gala will kick off the celebration right here at Washington National Cathedral under a tent on the North Lawn. This is sure to be a tasty event, catered by Ridgewells of Bethesda! Our last subscription concert entitled Reilly and Friends is a celebration featuring many beloved choral works and exciting collaborations with many of Washington’s finest performing artists on Sunday, May 16th followed by a post-concert champagne reception under the tent.
When a career spans over 25 years, friends are bound to be made. The Reilly and Friends program will feature works from friends Reilly has acquired over the years including Wayne Dirksen, Bob Shafer and Dominick Argento. Reilly was and continues to be inspired by these pillars of choral music:
“Wayne Dirksen was my choirmaster, organ teacher, mentor, and then esteemed colleague. It was he who opened up for me the mysteries of music in this magnificent sacred space.” -J. Reilly Lewis on Wayne Dirksen
“Shortly after I returned from New York City, I heard a performance on my car radio that was so engaging, so captivating, and so exquisite - That performance said it all. It inspired me to drive straight to the school to introduce myself to this remarkable young conductor. Thus began our lifelong friendship.” -J. Reilly Lewis on Bob Shafer
“No words of mine can express the love and gratitude I feel for Dominick’s generosity of spirit in setting this incredibly moving text to music. One of the joys of being music director of this venerable organization has always been the opportunity to nurture the talents of others.” J. Reilly Lewis on Dominick Argento
We hope you will join us next weekend in celebration of 25 years with Music Director, J. Reilly Lewis, and offer a toast to 25 more.
The Cathedral Choral Society is the resident symphonic chorus of Washington National Cathedral. The 160-voice chorus is the oldest choral group in Washington, founded in 1941. Since 1985, J. Reilly Lewis has conducted the Society in musical masterpieces from plainsong to contemporary works. The four major concerts each season are often performed with full symphony orchestra. Since its founding, the Cathedral Choral Society has presented numerous world premieres, many of them commissioned by the Society, and has maintained a tradition of showcasing both promising young soloists and internationally known artists. CCS is dedicated to enriching the community in which we live through reaching out to the Washington, DC public schools with our educational outreach programs.
All content posted on this blog is the property of Cathedral Choral Society.
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