THE Grande Messe des
Morts of Hector Berlioz
is a massive composition
from another world.
It belongs to the 19th-century artistic heritage of a
France which revelled in musi.cal rites on a vast scale as an
integral part of public life; and
it deals with ultimate unknowns such as purgatory and
divine judgment.
;
Combine those factors with
the Berlioz characteristics of
dramatist and arch-romantic
and the inevitable result is a
composition which goes beyond our normal musical experience. Harness drive with
intelligence, the forces necessary for such a work, and you
produce music which is both
awe-inspiring and noble.
A
performance which
reached both these pinnacles
was achieved on Saturday in
Guildford Cathedral By Brian
Wright, who conducted what
was overall a most satisfying
interpretation of the Grande
Messe.
This is a work in which the
notorious Tuba mirum and
shattering final bars of the Lacrymosa can provide a wall
and blaze 'of sound unsurpassed in any other choral
work — and so they did.
But this was also an occasion on which the audience
was privileged to hear a performance in which the quieter,
gentler and less extravagantly
grandiose moments were equally effective.
Indeed, the very silences
themselves in the Angus dei
were every bit as telling as the
mightiest of sounds from the
huge combined forces in the
cathedral.
The forces brought together
included Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra — 90-strong
on this occasion — with the
combined vocal resources of
Guildford’s Philharmonic
Choir and the Goldsmiths’
Choral Union.
The choir was particularly
outstanding in' what is a taxing
evening’s singing. The text was
sung- with clarity, projection
was excellent, with some fulsome, exciting. sounds filling
the cathedral nave, and there
was an overall rich texture
about the whole performance.
All manner of fine moments
come to mind: the rich bass
sound in the Kyrie eleison;
lush harmonic layering in the
. Dies irae and the unaccompanied Quarens me which included
a particularly beautifully spun
_final line.
There was, temporarily,
some flagging in the first part
of the Lacrymosa, but this was
solely in terms of the balance
between choir and orchestra.
But equilibrium was quickly
restored to result in some ringing tones in the Sanctus and a
lovely, almost hazy, effect in
the Agnus dei.
Playing at the top of its
form was an orchestra which
was outstanding both in the
moments of thunder — impressive, angry sounds from
bass trombone, et al — and in
the work’s latter sections
where, for instance, in the Agnus dei, the luminous string arpeggios were beautiful.
Fine contributions, too, from
the big percussion section in
playing such an important role
in this impressive canvas of
sound.
:
A smaller, but well executed,
contribution, too, from tenor
William Kendall, whose singing of the Sanctus had the necessary qualities of lyricism and
ardent feeling in this high-lyin
music.
:
Finally, though, one has to
return to the conductor, for
Wright wove his work of so
many contrasts together with
such conviction. Anyone can
inspire a huge sound from over
300 committed performers; but
to produce, as happened on
more than one occasion, a
massive and equally deafening
silence; that is truly the art of
making music.
Robert Benjafield.