Chorale’s ‘Creation’ a Contemplation (unabridged)

Scott Whited
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN REVIEWER

As God hath created order out of primordial chaos, so the Pueblo Choral Society hath brought impressive harmonic arrangement out of a disparate group of local musical entities.
The Chorale presented Franz Josef Haydn’s “The Creation” Saturday evening at Hoag Recital Hall on the Colorado State University-Pueblo campus. A near-full house was treated to not only the full-throated Choral Society itself, but also to a number of guest artists: CSU-Pueblo’s Concert Choir; Pueblo County High School’s “Voices of ‘09”; and especially a 36-member Guest Orchestra assembled by Dan Masterson and under the guidance of Concertmaster Ilya Shpilberg. The result was a musical experience not often encountered by local audiences: a classic oratorio, the focus of which was the creation story as depicted in Genesis.
An extended orchestral overture entitled “The Representation of Chaos” brought a dramatic tension to the evening’s first moments. Called a “musical depiction of a beauty almost frightening in its chromatic and dissonant texture” by renowned composer Leonard Bernstein, the sequence transformed to a more familiar harmonic structure as the piece moved to the primary performance device of the evening – a series of soloists singing extended lyrical passages from the Biblical text.
Bass Brent Ritter portrayed The Angel Raphael, commencing the vocal music with the eternal “In the beginning God created the heav’n and the earth.” He was followed by tenor John Blinn as The Angel Uriel and soprano Rose DePalma as The Angel Gabriel. The three celebrated God as He brought forth the light, the rain and snow, the land and rivers, until “with verdure clad the fields appear.” Punctuated and beautifully augmented by the combined choirs and the orchestra, by the end of Part I, many in the audience felt communion with one of the more powerful passages: “They marvel at the wondrous work with awe and joy, the hosts celestial.”
Though not celestial, the hosts terrestrial soared as though their voices were wingèd.
In Part II, God brought forth the great whales and flutt’ring creatures, and every living creature after his kind. But the whole was lacking still. The Angels Uriel and Raphael told us of God that, “Male and female created He them, and behold, it was very good.”
The combined musical forces could not hold back at this foundational animation of that which had been without Life, bursting forth with a crescendoing “Achieved is the glorious work. The praise of God shall be our song. Glory be to the Creator, forever be His name exalted, Hallelujah.”
Part III featured mezzo-soprano LaShele Warren as Eve and baritone Charles Rann as Adam. They were both much appreciative of the Creator’s largesse and vowed to Him that they would “praise Thee now and evermore.” The assembled musical multitudes seconded that emotion, and a well-deserved standing ovation was heard round about.
To partake of a monumental sacred work by a major classic composer, one that will celebrate the 210th anniversary of its premiere in just 10 days, is both uplifting and somewhat disconcerting. Language and music such as this is elemental, moving past sensory interpreters directly to primal nerve centers. The vibrating vocal chords and violin strings give embodiment to making one’s hair stand on end.
And yet we are creatures of habit. More appropriately, we are creatures of popular culture. The extended solos, beautifully sung though they were almost uniformly, became – at times – tedious. Where was the hook? Where was the middle-eight? Ah, here is the authority of the scores-strong choir, overwhelming our doubts with mesmerizing power.
The fault – to the degree there may be one – is not in our (pop) stars, but in ourselves. Artistic Director Mark Hudson made a bold choice for one of his last outings as conductor of the Choral Society, and the entire ensemble is to be commended for challenging its audience – to rewarding results.
One final observation: it was noted with happiness by more than one patron that it was a joy to see younger performers such as DePalma and Warren take their well-deserved places in the PCS spotlight.
The Pueblo Choral Society’s next performance is “The World of Love” on April 25 at the Pueblo Convention Center.