by Michael Caruso

The Episcopal Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Chestnut Hill, brought Easter Week to a close Sunday, April 3, with a Choral Evensong that boasted a setting of the traditional texts composed by the parish’s own music director, Erik Meyer. His opening “Preces” (O Lord, open thou our lips), the “Magnificat,” the “Nunc Dimittis” and the “Reponses” were sung by the parish’s choir when it toured England and sang Choral Evensong at several Anglican cathedrals last summer.

Before a note of Meyer’s own music was heard, however, Meyer offered Cesar Franck’s “Pastorale” as the service’s Prelude. The score begins delicately, and Meyer’s interpretation showed off the beautifully balanced woodwind and string registrations of St. Martin’s pipe organ. His playing was exceptionally enhanced by his expressive use of the instrument’s swell boxes, offering crescendos and diminuendos of louder and softer dynamics.

Following a lovely rendition by the Choir of Edward Bairstow’s setting of Psalm 113 (Hallelujah! Give praise, you servants of the Lord), Meyer’s own “Magnificat” opened with a fluttering organ introduction and the women singing the text, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” The men soon responded antiphonally with lyrical motifs forming organically conceived and convincingly voiced harmonies.

Meyer balanced flute and oboe stops against the organ’s string registrations for the introduction of his “Nunc Dimittis” (Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace).

Arthur Baynon’s anthem at the Offertory, “When rooks fly homeward and shadows fall,” was the final choral offering of the Evensong, with Meyer’s splendid performance of John Cook’s charming and festive “Fanfare” bringing the entire service to a satisfying conclusion.

BUSY SUNDAY

Sunday, April 17, will offer Chestnut Hillers a choice of two similar yet different choral performances. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will present its Festival of Choirs at 5 p.m. with Frank Boles leading the choirs of St. Paul’s Church, Christ Church (Alexandria, VA), St. Peter’s Church (Lewes, DE) and Church of the Redeemer (Bethesda, MD) in a Choral Evensong. The service will be preceded by an organ recital featuring performances by St. Paul’s own music director, Zachary Fritsch-Hemenway, on the church’s Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ.

Also at 5 p.m., the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill will continue its “Cantatas and Chamber Music” series with a performance of J.S. Bach’s Cantata 21: “Ich hatte viel Bekummenis” (I had much grief), featuring the professional singers of the church’s Gallery Choir and a period instruments ensemble under the direction of music director Daniel Spratlan.

CIRCA 1930

Music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in performances April 8, 9 &10 in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall. His program consisted of three works composed between 1928 and 1934. Of the three, one was voiced completely in the idiom of American Jazz, one was heavily influenced by Jazz, and the third was gently conversant with it. A most fascinating connecting link, since Jazz has never been fully embraced by most classical composers.

Sunday afternoon’s concert was fascinating for another reason, as well. Nezet-Seguin turned the traditional overture-concerto-intermission-symphony format backwards. He opened with a symphony, Kurt Weill’s “Symphony No. 2;” Maurice Ravel’s “Piano Concerto for the Left Hand” followed intermission; and George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” brought the concert to a scintillating conclusion. Ever the traditionalist, I found myself wondering what possessed our young maestro to tinker so dramatically with a tried-and-true formula. Shame on me! Nezet-Seguin may be young, but he knows what he’s doing because he made his choice of order based solely on the relative quality of the music, deciding on which of the three would produce the most rousing finale.

Composed between 1933-34, Weill’s Second Symphony is an admirable work that should have been performed by the Philadelphians long before this set of concerts, yet this was its first performance by the ensemble. Still, for all its fine characteristics, it lacks distinction, recalling Mahler here and approaching Shostakovich there but never altogether establishing its own unique voice.

Ravel’s “Concerto for the Left Hand” is, indeed, an extraordinary work, composed in 1930 at the same time the Frenchman was working on his other foray into the form, the “Concerto in G major.” Sunday’s soloist was Alexandre Tharaud; he gave the piece a convincing if not compelling rendition.

What can one say about “An American in Paris?” Composed in 1928, it’s so stunningly conceived, flawlessly fleshed out and glisteningly scored that it can take one's breath away, especially when played with such passion and panache as it was Sunday afternoon.