Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-14
Unusual Concert Sung
By New York Choir
By IRVING LOWENS

ny AhNANO LOWENS
c,b Members Of 4. the N s,, York Concert
viola Harriet Wingreen. piano. Il.
brary Of Congress- Program Salve
Regina. DespIes, Lobet den Herrn,
viii Your Fro OWN sAy Weei sss D DrsR
on, Sweet Night. Wilbye; All Cres-
lures NQg, Bennett; Four sloyak Folk
Past, Rorem: childTen's Il Rhymes nen0 tor
voices, viola and piano. Janacek
A dozen members of the re-
nowned New York Concert Choir
led by their director, Margaret
Hills, last night treated q Liz
brary Of Congress audience to an
unusual choral concert, offering
works ranging in idiom from a
l6th-century Despres motel to
a cycle of a cappella choruses
composed in 1851 by the young
American composer, Ned Rorem.
The undoubted hit of the eve
ming was the set of "Children's
Rhymes" completed by the Czech
Leos Janacek just a year before
his death in 1928. These dubbed
over with good humor and I'M
forced charm; they were brief,
pointed and utterly delightful.
The set was sung in English
to translations which kept the
listeners chuckling and some
times laughing aloud. One COM
plete poem, as I remember it,
went: MY dear wife is very lit
tie; will put her in the kettle.
Do you think it very cruel if
put her in the gruel?" The other
II were in the same general vein
Of inspired idocy.
Unique Flavor
Janacek's writing here seems
to be quite unique in flavor. No
doubt the fact that the Chill
dren's Rhymes" were written in
an unfamiliar language had
much to do with their general
unfamiliarity to the music-lov-
ing public. In the version heard
yesterday. they should make
many friends for the composer.
Second in interest to the
Janacek was Ned Rorem's From
an Unknown Past" a work which
received its world premiere in
the Coolidge Auditorium in 1852
and which has worn extremely
well. The seven settings of early
English poems which make up
the cycle are as lovely and as
expressive as can be: they rein
force the composers own belief
that he is at his best in writing
for the voice.
Unfortunately, while the pro-
gram was quite notable. it is
not possible to say the same
about the groups performance.
This was particularly evident
throughout the first half of the
concert. In all the classic works,
the choral blend was noticeably
poor, not only in the group as
a whole, but within sections
consisting of three voices.
Short on Tone Color
Perhaps some of the trouble
was due to the fact that the
sopranos and the BASES were
standing together a good six feet
away from the altos and tenors,
thus making tone matching vir-
tually impossible, but at least
some of it must be attributed to
the extremely narrow dynamic
range and the minimum of tone
color utilized by Miss Hills.
The Despres motel which be-
gan the evening was stodgy and
uninspired, while this reviewer
has rarely heard more boring
Bach than the "Lobet den
Herrn." Things were not greatly
in the group of English
Here, IL voices
seemed like twice too many; in
the Bach, they sounded like
twice too few.
Only after the intermission did
Miss Hills and her singers be-
gin to demonstrate why they
command the respect and af-
lection of New York audiences.
and by the time they got to
Janacek's "Children's Rhymes"
they finally had their audience
won. But it was a long, uphill
battle.