Robin and I have now
returned to California, and one of the reasons we left Hawai‘i
earlier than usual was so I could participate in a very exciting
musical event: The preeminent American choral composer Morten Lauridesen would be composer-in-residence for a week in mid-February at Cabrillo
College.
During this time he’d attend music classes and chorus
rehearsals and do a Q&A session, with the week culminating in a
concert of his music under the baton of the talented and tireless
Cheryl Anderson.
Dr. Lauridsen at our
rehearsal
(with Cheryl at
left)
Six different choruses
performed at the concert last Saturday night. The group I sing with,
the Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus, had learned Lux Aeterna, one of Lauridsen’s most well-known compositions, for its
Christmas concert last December. This piece—a mix of 16th
century sacred and modern, almost jazzy, styles—is heart-achingly
beautiful, but also exceedingly difficult to learn. I didn’t sing
with the Cabrillo Chorus last fall, but I was fortunate enough to
have already sung the Lux Aeterna the previous year with the
Hilo Community Chorus, so I was able to step into rehearsals without
any problem. (Thanks, Tom McAlexander!)
Dr. Lauridsen attended our
rehearsal last Tuesday evening. He listened to our renditions of his
works while pacing the hall, brows furrowed. I can only imagine how
stressful it must have been for Cheryl to have the composer right
there, listening to her interpretation of his famous works.
Dr. Lauridsen in his
Richard Wagner pose
And he did indeed have
opinions to voice. “Not so even and regular during the “O Nata
Lux,” the composer admonished us. “The tempo should vary and the
music undulate.” (Mind you, this is something Cheryl had already
told us many times.)
And he was not at all happy
that the orchestra was missing its second viola and clarinet for the
rehearsal (notwithstanding that he had been warned in advance that
they would be absent that night).
working with the orchestra
But he also showed us his
jovial side. He loves to tell stories—about himself and about his
music. Here is a short clip of him telling us about visiting Los
Angeles Master Chorale director, Paul Salamunovich (who commissioned
the Lux Aeterna), shortly before his death:
Saturday morning we had a
full rehearsal at the church where the concert would be held that
night, and we were all relieved to see that Dr. Lauridsen seemed
quite pleased with what he heard. Here you can see him sitting behind
Cheryl, studying his score as we sing:
It was such a treat to get
to meet one of of the foremost choral composers of our day, to listen
to him talk about his music, and to hear him accompany his songs
himself on piano. This is a very short clip (I had to stop filming
when my alto part came in) of Dr. Lauridsen playing piano for us on
his song “Prayer”:
But most of all, if was
truly amazing to get to sing so many of his wonderful works, and with
such a terrific chorus. (I should note that Dr. Lauridsen told us
that never before had so many of his pieces all been performed in one
concert.)
So thank you to Cheryl, and
to all the others who worked so incredibly hard to make this amazing
week possible! I and my fellow chorus-members shall never forget the
experience.
Now on to the food! There
was a gala reception following the concert, and choral members were
asked to contribute finger food. I decided to make two kinds of
English-style tea sandwiches: cucumber with lemon-dill cream cheese;
and ham, cheese, and mango-ginger chutney:
For those who would like to
recreate them, here are photos of the process. Make sure you buy
thinly-sliced “sandwich bread” (it’s more square than the
regular kind) and cut off the crusts (which I’ve saved in my
freezer for a future batch of stuffing).
For the cucumber sandwiches,
I used a hand-mixer and whipped the cream cheese with lemon zest and
juice, as well as a little yogurt to make it softer and easier to
spread. Here you can see my assembly line. On half the slices spread
mayo. On the other half, the cream cheese spread, then chopped dill,
then the cuke slices. (I left a little of the peel on for its color).
Ziggy is looking on, hoping for a dropped slice of bread.
For the ham and cheese,
spread chutney on half the slices. On the other half spread Dijon
mustard, ham, and cheese (I used Havarti).
The last step is to cut the
sandwiches into four pieces. Voilà the finished product:
we were instructed to
bring lots of food
(and yes, they were all
gone by the end of the evening)
I've really enjoyed Laurensen's work at the holiday concerts over the years. I considered going up to this one, but didn't manage it. I'm glad you were able to take part!
ReplyDeleteAnd the sandwiches were divine!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful account--wish I could have been there to hear the music and eat the sandwiches! (I definitely would've fallen off the Atkins Wagon for the occasion)
ReplyDelete