Zoltán Kodály’s lyric-dramatic Missa Brevis is one of the delights of choral literature. It was written by the composer in two versions, one with full orchestra and one with organ (which will be performed on the concert). In the last days of January, 1945, the Russian troops cleared entirely the city of Pest from the Germans; however, the most bitter fighting continued on the other side of the river in Buda until February. Kodály lived through this hell in the cellar of the Opera house, after his flat had been partly destroyed by an aerial attack earlier in the war. It was here that the Missa Brevis was completed in early 1945 and performed in the cloakroom of the Opera House. It later received its official premiere (orchestral version) in 1948 at the Three Choirs Festival in Worchester. The MIssa Brevis is largely an adaptation and extension of Kodály’s Organ Mass which had been composed in 1942 and performed in St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Budapest in 1943. The Missa Brevis is dedicated to the composer’s wife who had been his best friend, critic, and protagonist for the 35 years of their married life. Throughout the work Kodály maintains a close partnership between the voices and the organ, comprehensively doubling the choral parts for much of the work.

Ian Stephens, in his notes to a recording by the Danish National Radio Choir describes the Missa Brevis as follows: “With the organ’s Introitus he (Kodály) presents the main theme of the Kyrie, a pattern of seven rising then falling notes, and establishes D as the overall key. The dark and brooding choral entry in the Kyrie is set in sharp relief by Christe eleison, where three solo sopranos soar ethereally above the choir; the movement closes with the sombre atmosphere of its opening. Though the Gloria is framed with jubilant and forceful choral writing, it has at its centre a passage for the vocal soloists of almost Baroque pathos. The characteristics of both Gregorian chant and Hungarian folksong are evident in the opening of the Credo. In his setting of Crucifixus, Kodály employs pungent harmonic clashes in the manner of a Renaissance madrigal. Following the stately polyphony of the Sanctus is a Hosanna section, which Kodály later expands at the close of the sustained Benedictus movement. Material from the Kyrie and Gloria reappears in the Agnus Dei, while a development of the main theme of the Credo brings the Mass to a close in the Ite, missa est.”

Janet Wilson is featured as the organist.

Mark Sirett’s Ce Beau Printemps is part of a much larger choral-orchestral work entitled Bealtaine—A Branch of May. This piece celebrates May Day, the mid-point between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice—the beginning of summer. It is homophonic throughout and gently and quietly serenades us with the optimism of this beautiful spring day and the air that “becomes serene/And is filled/With sparks of love.”

Dominic Gregorio was the head of choral music at the University of Regina until his untimely death in 2019. As well as being a choral conductor he was also a gifted poet. As a tribute to Dominic, The National Youth Choir of Canada (2022) and its conductor Jean-Sébastien Vallée commissioned Andrew Balfour to set one of Dominic’s poems to music. The result was Music is Vibration. The text is as follows:

Music is vibration; can you see it?
Sound is emotion; can you feel it?
Invisible, intangible; yet touches deep within.
A ringing, a resonance, a returning; twin to twin.

Melody is your nature; can you sing?
Harmony – all your cells; won’t you dance it?
Plain old eyes cannot see it
But deep in your heart you do know it.

Music is vibration; can you see it?

Balfour cleverly re-creates and imitates those images with soundscapes that often begin very softly and build over the course of the line, before returning to softness again. The voices enter one after the other, sometimes a beat apart and sometimes a half-beat apart, building one upon the other. Interspersed with these are gentle homophonic sections that are meant to be more contemplative.

During COVID, Canadian composer Stephanie Martin found herself in “snowy isolation in locked-down Toronto.” She said that COVID-19 regulations kept singers and audience apart as in-person choral activities had ceased. Deborah Finlayson and Dan Leader commissioned A Frost Sequence in 2020 to “honour their love of nature, music, and singing with people they love.” The three pieces in the set were brought to life by the Elora Festival Singers. Quoting Martin from her composer’s notes at the beginning of the music, she writes “the three Robert Frost poems reflect on the ephemeral nature of existence, the consequences of decision-making, and the tug of our dream world against the real word of responsibilities. An over-arching theme is time: time that decays all that is precious, time that we cannot recover or re-live; and time that passes too quickly, even as we recognize the fleeting beauty surrounding us.” Nothing Gold Can Stay is pure beauty of a choir singing in harmony – tender and soothing. The Road Not Taken is more dreamlike, contemplative as the speaker ponders which of the two roads to embark upon. Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening beautifully evokes the calm and stillness of a snowy evening in the wilderness where the sound of the horse’s harness bells mingle with “the sweep of easy wind and downy flake.” Of the three pieces, this one is the least chordal.

Bruce Sled, a graduate of the University of British Columbia’s School of Music, brought a copy of his Jing-ga-lye-ya to a Chor Leoni rehearsal where it was sung for the first time in 2000. The words are nonsensical, made-up syllables that are meant to be sung as fast as possible and with spirit. Put your socks on and get ready for the ride!

The Saskatoon Chamber Singers, with thanks to the Jacquie Ackerman Memorial Commission Fund, commissioned Canadian composer Matthew Emery to compose a piece, in recognition of our 45th anniversary. The result is Hold You, Enfold You with text by Frances Ebbs-Canavan. Matthew writes that “the composition’s structure follows the three stanzas of the poem, though each phrase is varied. Subtle harmonic variations, and alterations in the voicings paint each phrase with slight variants in hue. The varying phrase lengths and cadential gestures which sometimes remain unresolved, add vibrancy to the musical language. It is as if each phrase begins rooted in a similar fashion, to then bloom and blossom anew with each section.” Hold You, Enfold You is an “anthem which looks to the ordinary for meaning: the beauty of a garden to shelter us, the sunlight bouncing off fresh morning dew.”

Love Songs for Springtime by Canadian composer Paul Halley was commissioned by the Ottawa Choral Society in 1985. The texts, most of which are anonymous, “have become so popular that they are now a part of the English folk tradition.” They speak of the various aspects of love, unrequited and otherwise, and are dealt with in a light-hearted way with music that “could be danced to, or at least would encourage some foot-tapping.” The Despairing Lover, dirge-like, shows a despondent lover about the commit suicide because his lover has scorned him. Death is permanent but there is always the possibility of another lover, which makes the thought of suicide out of the question. The Bailiff’s Daughter is a rather convoluted love story between a youth and the bailiff’s daughter. She is doubtful of her sincerity and so he leaves for London. Many years pass and finally the bailiff’s daughter sets off for London in search of him. By chance they meet and she at first tells him the bailiff’s daughter is dead. He is so distraught and now knows he had spoken the truth, so the identified herself and all ends well. The music is a jaunty 6/8 rhythmic throughout. In Soldier, Won’t You Marry Me? the rhythm for the most part alternates between 6/8 and 3/4 with occasional stretches in 5/4. The pulsating rhythm carries on throughout the piece as the soldier offers several reasons why he cannot marry “such a pretty girl”, yet the “pretty girl” strives to counteract his rationale. The sopranos and altos are the voice of the “pretty girl” and the tenors and basses that of the “soldier”. When they sing as one it is to narrate the story. The Maypole has numerous rhythmic patterns (6/8, 8/8, 10/8, 7/8, 3/4) that alternate and tell the story of maypole celebrations where “every he has got a she with a minstrel standing by. For Willy has gotten his Jill, and Johnny has got his Joan, to jigg it up and down.” The final piece, The Lover’s Arithmetic is a samba and highlights the tenors and basses and gives them mathematical words to express such as “vulgar fractions.” There are short and rather lengthy piano solos thrown into all of them as well.