The American University Chamber Singers performed "Sound the Trumpets: Music for a Royal Occasion" at the Abramson Family Recital Hall in the Katzen Arts Center last weekend. The chorus, accompanied by a 10-piece instrumental section, sang selections from the 17th and 18th centuries originally produced for royal occasions.
The concert included four selections from two well-known composers from the period: George Frideric Handel and Henry Purcell.
"Stylistically it was a very unique concert," Mallika Kasturirangan, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and a soloist in the performance, said. "We were able to sing pieces that really stretched our vocal range."
The program opened with Handel's "Let thy hand be strengthened" from the Coronation Anthem for George II.
This relatively short anthem was cause for alarm by the archbishop of Canterbury during its premiere in 1727. According to the program notes, this song of praise was performed during the recognition of the new monarch, but instead of affirming a clear call for allegiance to the crown, the text is an appeal for justice, mercy and truth.
The anthem was followed by a Purcell selection. "Come ye sons of art," from the Queen Mary's Birthday in 1694, introduced soloists ranging from soprano to bass and was guest conducted by mezzo-soprano and 2006 AU Concerto and Aria Competition winner Laura Petravage. Conductor and AU Director of Choral Activities Daniel Abraham sang with the chorus during this piece, much to the delight of concertgoer and Washington Semester professor Katherine Krevetz.
"I liked the fact that when the guest conductor came on, Dan went and joined the rest of the chorus," she said.
After the intermission the chorus returned to sing a second Purcell number, "Funeral Sentences," complemented only by a period cello and a continuo. This selection was performed after the death of Queen Mary in 1694. According to the program notes, the song is highly chromatic and performed in C minor to serve as a stark reminder that the duration of life on Earth is short.
In preparation for the final piece, "As pants the hart," by Handel, the remaining instrumentalists returned to the stage. Abraham explained why the instruments had an unusual look and sound.
"This is not your standard band," he said. "These are gut-strung instruments and they have a lower shaped bridge. These instruments are designed not for power but for clarity."
According to Abraham, this was the reason that there was constant retuning after each piece, because gut-strung stringed instruments are more susceptible to changes in temperature. They even have a different pitch.
"All the instruments for the show are tuned a half-step lower [than usual]," Abraham said. "It was one of the conventions of the 18th century."
Like the earlier Handel anthem, "As pants the hart" spotlighted many individuals, including a quintet of singers for the Sinfonia, several soloists during the Air and Accompagnato and a hauntingly beautiful duet between Petravage and tenor Joseph Berman. The performance left Krevetz both impressed and dismayed.
"I thought the performances and the solos were great," she said. "But I don't understand why more people don't come to the show. This is a wonderful facility and more students need to come see these amazing concerts."
The AU Chamber Singers will next perform in the Abramson Family Recital Hall on April 14 and 15. Their concert, "Shakespeare in Song: Choral Settings of the Bard," will explore the work of William Shakespeare.
