Hudson Chorale Concert: American Composers Inspired by American Writers

by Angela Usobiaga

Hudson Chorale, Westchester’s largest chorus, will conclude its fifth season May 9 with the second of a three-part series – American Voices – a program of American composers who found their inspiration in American writers.

The concert will feature the 80-voice Hudson Chorale, a full orchestra, the Westchester premiere of a new work by the chorus’ Conductor/Music Director, Michael Conley, and a pre-concert talk by Conley and Chorale member, actress and author, Barbara Dana.

The chorus has earned praise for its unique programming, and this concert is no exception. The composers range from the universally known Randall Thompson to contemporary American artists. This concert is a perfect example of the kind of eclectic mix that makes Chorale concerts so extraordinary – a place where you can enjoy re- visiting the works of “old friends,” while meeting musically interesting and entertaining “new friends” at the same time.

No concert with the theme of American choral composers and writers can exclude Randall Thompson [1899-1984] who is considered by many to be the best American composer of the 20th century, and who looked most often to poetry, scripture and historical documents to find his preferred lyrics. The concert will feature Thompson’s Americana, a delightfully entertaining work in which he set to music the simple writings of everyday Americans. The title Americana comes from a section of a monthly magazine, the “American Mercury,” in which the editors included a variety of articles from periodicals published around the country, all serving to illustrate and, in some cases, poke fun at what was going on in the country at the time. Thompson selected excerpts from the early 1930’s, each one a short humorous history lesson on topics ranging from the temperance movement to poorly planned executions.

You don’t often find a lover of the great outdoors, an inventor and a choral composer in one person, but Cecil Effinger [1914-1990] is the exception. Straying only briefly during his lifetime from his native Colorado, Effinger was a prolific composer in many music genres, from works for string ensembles to operas and symphonies. In between compositions he managed to invent the Musicwriter, the non-digital equivalent of today’s MP3 recorder, and the still-in-use tempo watch which musicians use to record the exact tempo of a piece in performance.

His choral works are his most popular compositions, and the concert will feature Four Pastorales, based on the words of Colorado’s 1979 poet laureate, Thomas Hornsby Ferril [1896-1988]. Ferril is so beloved in his native state that his words are engraved in the state Capitol: “Here is a land where life is written in water.... Look to the green within the mountain cup.” While few knew of him outside of the Western states, Ferril was highly regarded and sought out by his peers, including the iconic American poet, Robert Frost. Carl Sandburg called Ferril “the Poet of the Rockies” and “one of the great poets of America.” Effinger was so inspired by Ferril’s poetry that he composed and named Four Pastorales based on the poet’s work by the same name. The piece concludes with the simplest and most beautiful lines, made even more moving by Effinger’s music: And you were kneeling by a flower…and seven wondrous stags that I could not believe walked slowly by.”

Michael Conley enjoys a multi-faceted career as a conductor, composer, pianist, organist and singer. When Hudson Chorale was formed in 2010 by the merger of the Westchester-based Choral Arts Society (conducted by Conley) and the Westchester Concert Singers, Maestro Conley became its first Music Director. The chorus is proud to present his own tribute to American writers with the performance of his musical anthology, This Bequest of Wings. Based on the works of Massachusetts poet Emily Dickinson, the collection contains a portrayal of Dickinson’s life as described in her own unique and, in her day, often controversial manner. After her death in 1886, her family was astonished to discover a trove containing almost 1,800 poems written during her lifetime, only a handful of which were published and usually with unauthorized edits. Dickinson’s work has earned her a unique place among America’s most esteemed poets. Conley has captured musically all of her passion, despair, optimism, anguish engendered by unrequited love, and keen observation of all things natural and human in this new composition.

What the critics had to say: …’This Bequest of Wings’, an ambitious, handsome nine-movement work composed by Mr. Conley and based on texts by Emily Dickinson, was tuneful and consonant, but piquant, surprising harmonies keenly illuminated Dickinson’s mix of plain-spoken language and otherworldly disposition. - NY Times, July 11, 2012.

The title of Conley’s work was inspired by her poem, The Book: “He ate and drank the precious words...He knew no more that he was poor… And this bequest of wings was but a book.”

As a concert bonus, starting at 6:45 pm, audience members are invited to attend apre-concert talk about the piece by the composer/conductor, Michael Conley, andHudson Choral member/Emily Dickinson scholar and author, Barbara Dana, who has often portrayed Dickinson in the award-winning play, The Belle of Amherst.

A final addition to the concert - based neither on prose nor poetry - contains the single-word lyric, alleluia. That universal expression of praise has inspired many generationsof composers including Randall Thompson, whose Alleluia was included in Hudson Chorale’s American Voices-Part I concert in 2014. This year, audiences will hear avibrant, soaring musical interpretation of this ubiquitous four-syllable hymn. Paul Basler is today one of America’s most popular and widely commissioned young composers of choral and instrumental music. His resume of teaching positions, commissions and performances is a passport with stamps from all over the world, ranging from Kenya to Florida. The New York Times described his music as “virtuosic and highly athletic.” His Alleluia, one of five movements – and the most popular - from a collective work entitled Songs of Faith, is representative of his unique, multi-dynamic and ethnic rhythmic style, a style reflected in the accompanying instrumental ensemble: piano, horn, conga drums and tambourine. Basler’s composition is exciting, exhilarating, and exalting - the kind of music that brings American audiences roaring to their feet, wanting to shout hallelujah!

Don’t miss this fabulous red-white-and-blue concert! One performance only on Saturday, May 9, 2015 at the Irvington Middle/High School Auditorium, 40 North Broadway, Irvington, NY. Pre-concert talk starts at 6:45 pm; concert begins at 7:30 pm. Handicap parking is available. Following the concert, the audience is invited to an informal reception to greet the conductor, the chorus, and members of the orchestra, a long-standing Hudson Chorale tradition.

Ticket Prices: Advance Sales - $25; Door - $30; Premium Reserved (purchased in advance only) - $40; Students - $10 (Advance Sales and Door only). Premium Reserved Seats can be purchased by calling (914) 462-3212; Advance Sales can be purchased by phone or via the chorus website: www.hudsonchorale.org.