Last night at the St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church the California Bach Society (CBS) presented a program entitled The Christmas Story. This was not a single full-evening composition. Rather it was a compilation by Artistic Director Paul Flight, consisting primarily of works that the seventeenth-century German composer Johann Rosenmüller called Kern-Sprüche (core sentences, most of which were taken from the Old and New Testament). The texts for these sentences alternate between German and Latin, and Flight selected seven of them. Then, in the interest of “fleshing out” the narrative, he interjected two motets (again one in Latin and one in German) from Heinrich Schütz’ Kleine geistliche Konzerte (brief spiritual concerts) collection.
Most of the music itself was choral with occasional interjections of passages for solo or duo voices. Instrumental accompaniment was moderate. There were one-to-a-part performances for two violins, two violas, cello, bassoon, two cornettos, and three sackbuts. Continuo was provided by Yuko Tanaka on organ.
Between the transparency of the instrumentation and the diverse dispositions of the texts being sung, Flight’s compilation made for an engaging listening experience. There was also much to be said for a “seasonal” program in which none of the selections were familiar! (There are still more than twenty days before the holiday itself, so there will be more than ample time to encounter the many “traditional” carols and songs.) Personally, I was drawn to those passages that involved interleaving voices. This was a significant rhetorical strategy in the Kleine geistliche Konzerte, and there were ample opportunities to observe how Rosenmüller had been influenced by that genre’s style. (The nature of any connection between Rosenmüller and Schütz will depend on the historical sources one chooses to read! All we know for sure is that Schütz was the elder of the two.)
Screen shot from a video “tour” of The Dancing Saints (from the Web page about the mural)
The church was relatively intimate in scale, making it a first-rate setting for the musical resources that Flight led. The venue is probably best known for the mural that encircles the sanctuary, entitled The Dancing Saints. The “saints” depicted in the mural range from the Old Testament (King David) through Christianity (Teresa of Avila and Francis of Assisi) to more recent secular figures, including Malcolm X and Anne Frank. The figures are grouped in panels, each showing them executing a dance-step in unison. My favorite panel includes a wolf. The six “saints” are raising their left leg in unison, and the wolf raises his front right leg! Last night was my first return to St. Gregory’s since the pandemic, and I had forgotten how much I missed the place!
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