Story by Lillian Syren, Arts Beat Writer
On Friday, March 1st, Aquinas College Music Department put on a Lenten concert in the Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Chapel on campus. In contrast to Aquinas’ Lessons and Carols last semester which showcased single pieces, this year’s spring concert focused on masterworks of various 20th century composers as a whole. The concert, full of brilliant varying themes, offered a much-needed time of reflection and contemplation during the Lenten season.
The concert opened up with a bone-chilling performance of Rorem’s first piece of his canticles, “Confitebor Tibi,” by the 12 members of the women’s Treble Chorus. Confitebor Tibi, from Latin, translates to “I will confess to you.” The lyrics for the song were taken from Isaiah chapter 12, which follows the narrative of praising the Lord, even after having endured his anger, because he continues to be his comfort and salvation. The prayer has both a humble and rejoicing tone with many elements of anguish and strong emotion in the lyrics, and Rorem captures those themes extremely well with his unique scale that is not used in any other major works, and certainly is not familiar to any listener, lack of time signature, and freeing movement.
Interestingly enough, the song was written to be performed in unison, further adding to the very contemplative and unitive aspect of the piece.
The concert entered into a more antiquated mode with Maurice Duruflé’s “Quatre Motets sur des Thèmes Grégoriens” (Four motets on Gregorian chant themes). The four Gregorian chants that he used were “Ubi Caritas,” “Tota Pulchra Es,” “Tu Es Petrus,” and “Tantum Ergo.” These pieces are sung in an ecclesiastical setting over various parts of the year, spanning from Lent to Christmas and a plethora of occasions in between. Duruflé used the chant’s original melodies as the foundation for his renditions, with the sopranos mostly having the main line. In his artistic style, Duruflé included embellishments and musical additions to add variance and character which added to the fluid, resonant nature of the pieces. Interestingly enough, the last piece, “Tantum Ergo,” did not have any embellishments or alterations in the Soprano line, which had the main melody. The last piece, usually cut off from most choir concerts, was performed masterfully by the concert despite its challenging musical structure and composition.
After the motets finished, the Treble chorus performed the second piece of the Rorem, “Magnificat,” which is taken from the Gospel of Saint Luke. The lyrics are the words of Mary after she heard she would be the Mother of God from the Angel Gabriel. Though less bone-chilling, the piece had similarly very difficult harmonies, but unlike “Confitebor Tibi,” it had two voice parts.
Afterwards, the concert had the pleasure of welcoming a student-led barbershop piece, run by a junior student Steve Garvey, and they performed Alleluia by Larry Gatlin. Steve along with another member of the barbershop, Prima Webb, a senior at Aquinas, sang in every single piece of the concert. Bravo for such energy and work!
The concert then turned to Collegiate singers, made up of eight singers, and they performed a very arduous and complex piece: Benjamin Britten’s “Hymn to Saint Cecilia.” The piece had three movements, full of complex rhythms, challenging tempos, and difficult notes for high and low voices alike. With a run time of around 12 minutes, this piece was no easy feat for the singers and was understandably taxing on their voices. However, once they finished, Prima Webb and Steve Garvey jumped right into Treble Chorus’ last song of the Rorem set, “Nunc Dimittis,” without skipping a beat!
The lyrics were taken from the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus is presented as a baby in the temple. Once Simeon the prophet sees the baby, he humbly tells God to “let his servant depart in peace,” because he has finally seen what he has waited for his whole life, and now he can die in peace.
The concert concluded with another contemporary piece, an excerpt from Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass.” The song, called “Almighty Father,” is also the closer for the “Mass” itself, making it incredibly fitting for this concert. Overall, the concert was a huge success with a great turnout in the audience, and it offered excellent contemplation and meditation for the Lenten season.
The Saint 