Evening star., 1950-03-27
By Alice Eyersmon


noon in Constitution Hall under
the joint auspices of Patrick Hayes
and the Friday Morning Music
Club. Robert Shaw chose a pro-
gram off the beaten path for his
singers and inducted his audience
into the meaning of what was to
be sung by explanations prefacing
each number. 1t would have been
feasible for this group, with its
excellent diction, to sing the works
in English, but the original Ian
guage was adhered to in all the
selections. Only the three Amer
lean Folk-Song Sketches by Gail
Kubik, inconspicuously placed at
the end of the program, repre-
sented this country.
The opening numbers were in
the religious sentiment of this
time of the year, starting off with
Poulenc'S very beautiful "Motets
for a Time of Penitence" AS this
composer has frequently shown,
his treatment of liturgical sub
jects has an individual slant.
While only vaguely making ref
erence to the accepted form for
this music. he infuSes his more
modern idiom with special rev.
erence which often is dramatically
telling. Bach's Cantata No. 4,
Christ Lag in Todesbanden,"
gave the greatest scope for the
singers to show their training both
vocally and interpretively. This
long work, portions of which have
been played by the National Sym
phony in orchestral arrangement.
was splendidly presented.
Mr.. Shaw's singers are experts
at beautifying whatever they un-
. dertake with every infection that
can bring out the profundity and,
at the same time, the musical
value of work. Individually,
they have choice voices, yet. in
ensemble, the quality is not excep-
tional. The choral pattern is not
made up of the tonal richness
usually so sought after, nor does
it reach a satisfying range in
timbre. At the start. the sections
fitted together somewhat muggily.
but this was remedied later and
purity and refinement was main
tanned from then on.
The conductor has developed in
his group not an art that con-
ceals art, but an art of which one
iS always conscious. The supreme
care given to phrasing and color
ing and an avoidance of the VOL
ume that might disturb the ele-
gance they cultivate, hampered
spontaneity. 1t was present also
in the singing of the soloists who
had every reason to be more dis
tinctive since they have excel
lently trained voices.
The music of Vecchi, Gibbons
and di Lasso. forming group
representative Of the end of the
17th century, offered some of the
finest opportunities for the sing
ers. Previously, the rarely heard
"Trois Chansons" by Debussy
) and three songs for male and
mixed chorus by Schubert were
defined with the utmost interpre-
tative skill. From the operatic
repertoire was taken selections
from Verdfs Macbeth" and LA
Forza del Destino," introduced by
the little-known "Danse du Grand
Calumet de la Paix' from
Rameau's Les Indies Galantes."
The Death of Boris" from Nous
sorgsky's Boris Godounov," COM
pleted the list with Peter Trump
singing the part of Boris in Rus
sian.
AS the program unrolled, the
amazing fexibility and security of
the singers aroused the audiences
constant enthusiasm. 1t was
choral singing polished to the nth
degree. Were it to contain as we'll,
lusciousness Of tone and warmth
of sentiment, it would come close
to being perfect. For the most
part, the performance was a cap
pella but for some numbers a
small chamber orchestra and
piano were used. At all times, the
difficult contrapuntal demands
were faultlessly delivered.