Last night the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) concluded its 29th season in San Francisco with a program entitled Myth & Memory: Berio Folk Songs with New Companions. As was observed in the preview article for this program Folk Songs is the title of a cycle of eleven songs that Luciano Berio composed for the American mezzo Cathy Berberian. This is a journey that begins in the United States and ventures across Armenia, France, Sicily, and Sardinia.
Those of my generation probably know that the American selections were actually composed in a style emulating folk traditions. Similarly, they would probably have recognized the ninth of the songs, which was given “concert treatment” by Joseph Canteloube in his collection of folk song arrangements entitled Chants d’Auvergne (songs from the Auvergne). Netania Davrath recorded these on the Vanguard label, and they rose to the status of “pop hits” on classical music radio stations.
In Berio’s settings the vocal line was an unembellished account of the tune itself with instrumental accompaniment that was highly (if not outrageously) imaginative in both thematic content and instrumentation. There were seven instrumentalists conducted by Matilda Hofman. Two of them were percussionists, Jim Kassis and Haruka Fujii, sharing an impressive variety of instruments. The remainder of the ensemble consisted of different sizes of flute (Lance Suzuki), different sizes of clarinet (Jerome Simas), viola (Phyllis Kamrin), cello (Leighton Fong), and guitar (Michael Goldberg). The vocalist was contralto Emily Marvosh.
Sadly, the diversity of this content did not make for a particularly persuasive journey. One problem may have been that the eleven settings were preceded by ten world premiere performances in a set entitled New Folk Song Companions. Composers Ingrid Stözel, Seong Ae Kim, Linda Catlin Smith, Chris Castro, and Hiroya Miura each contributed two new song settings. Accompaniment was provided by the same instrumentalists and conductor that presented the Berio composition, this time performing with soprano Nikki Einfeld. While each of these new pieces probably had its merits, the overall flow of content made for a strain on all-too-human attentiveness; and that strain poured over into efforts to experience the Berio set.
The first half of the program also featured Einfeld, accompanied by Suzuki, Kamrin, Fong, Fujii, and Allegra Chapman on piano, again conducted by Hofman. It was devoted entirely to Carl Schimmel’s “Ladle Rat Rotten Hut,” which had been scheduled for its world premiere on March 9, 2020 but was cancelled due to COVID-19. This is a setting of a chapter from Howard L. Chace’s book Anguish Languish, a collection of stories, poems, and song texts that only make sense when read aloud.
Einfeld took some time to explain the technique behind Chace’s text. Sadly, in both the demonstration and the performance, her own pronunciation and articulation often missed the boat that Chace was sailing. For that matter, while Schimmel was clearly impressed by Chace’s technique, his efforts as a composer never quite rose to the occasion. In all likelihood he never heard of Al “Jazzbo” Collins, whose recitation of “Little Red Riding Hood” drew upon jazzy scat singing and recitation, rather than Chace’s homonyms. (There is also a recording of Collins’ reciting “Pee Little Thrigs.”) Unless I am mistaken, the Spike Jones crew had a few of their own tricks for narrative accounts. Unfortunately, graduate school studies in music composition probably overlook the likes of Collins and Jones.
Schimmel clearly paved his own road with good intentions, but we all know where that road leads!
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