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Last Saturday evening at the Verbruggen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium, the Sydney Chamber Choir shared their stage with the Muffat Collective for the final concert of the year. The theme for the program was to celebrate music of Saxony dating back as far as the 1500s, diversifying into a few perfectly complimenting, contemporary works.

Saxony is a state of modern day Germany sitting on the Eastern border. Its history runs deep with temples dating to at least 400BC and the mining of silver bringing great wealth to the area. Wherever prosperous times and conditions are present, with all basic needs met within a city or state, interest often turns towards supporting the arts. Saxony features the cities of Dresden and Leipzig with Brandenburg state to the north. All these names are easily recognisable to classical music lovers. The area grew quickly to become a hub for music in Europe and remains so today.

So much magnificent music has been created in the state of Saxony over the centuries. It would have been a tough job selecting the gems highlighted in this concert, carefully curated by talented Artistic Director Sam Allchurch.

From the very beginning, the music was optimistic, even when exploring the theme of death. Based on a strong faith in God, the Saxon Renaissance sacred music and lyrics promises salvation, peace, eternal life and a place in heaven. It’s a stark contrast to the focus of Catholic masses from the same era due to Saxony being the centre of Lutheran teachings. Martin Luther became vicar of Saxony in 1515 which had a profound influence on music and art. It is from this more positive stance the program was selected, making for a truly delightful evening.

Sydney Chamber Choir have built an enviable reputation for top quality performing previously recording with the ABC, Tall Poppies and winning the Tolosa International Choral Competition in Spain. As expected, they impressed all with consistency, outstanding pitch, unification and expression.

An interesting feature of the program was “Musikalische Exequien” (Musical Funeral Rites) by Dresden composer from the Baroque era, Heinrich Schütz, commissioned at the request of Prince Heinrich II of Reuss-Gera. This was a cycle of texts personally selected from religious texts and contemporary writers by the Prince himself to accompany his funeral which came around the following year. The texts were arranged for small ensembles and solos giving ample opportunity for choir members to showcase their skills. There was beautiful balance between the parts and an easy grace in handling more syncopated rhythms. Allchurch really feels like he’s in his element drawing the very best from his singers, adding great variety to the sound of the ensemble with changing dynamics.

The Muffat Collective are a wonderful instrumental ensemble specialising in historically informed performance (HIP) of music from the past. Comprising of international quality musicians, led by Matthew Greco, they provided superb support to the choir in accompaniment throughout the concert, and on their own. Highlight for Muffat was “La Bella Pastora” by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, a quartet of 2 violins, cello and added pipe organ played by guest artist Kiseok Kim. The work was very similar to Pachelbel’s “Cannon” though twice as pretty. Many years of performing together have resulted in a highly polished sound demonstrating absolute trust and familiarity. The quick interchange between two violins was seamless and impeccable. Let’s hope we can hear this work again in another Muffat concert. The audience were highly impressed.

Composer John Rutter – the more recent one born in 1945 – was chosen as one of the contemporary works along with Australian composer Brooke Shelley. Her first work “Praise the Lord” was originally commissioned for St James Church in King Street and she was in attendance for the world premiere of her second work, “Heavenly Father”. Its setting amongst the rest of the program fitted perfectly featuring some dissonance, well considered, challenging parts and possible influence from the works of Eric Whitacre. Text was a mix of German and English addressing the cycle of life which reflected the theme of earlier Lutheran works from the program. Some parts were so gentle and angelic — very difficult for choral groups to master but beautifully executed — whilst the crescendo soared around the auditorium to the ceiling in strong chords of optimism and hope. The premiere was very well received and will no doubt be performed many times more in the future. Brava!

For the grand finale, a joyful piece by JS Bach had the choir members smiling and obviously enjoying themselves. The audience loved the performance and gave generous applause. It was a wonderful conclusion to a year where many have still faced challenges getting back on their feet. An evening filled with sublime music from quality artists and a message that, yes, there is life after “life” was the perfect remedy.

Keep an eye on their website (link below) for the 2023 season.

References:

Make a donation to the Sydney Chamber Choir:  https://www.sydneychamberchoir.org/donate

Muffat Collective: http://www.themuffatcollective.com.au/about 

Verbruggen Hall available for hire: https://www.sydney.edu.au/music/about/venue-hire.html 

Composer Brooke Shelley: https://www.brookeshelley.com.au/   

Program:

TUNDER – Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott (A Strong Fortress is Our God)

SCHUTZ – Musikalische Exequien (Musical Funeral Rites)

SCHMELZER – La Bella Pastora (The Fair Shepherdess)

SHELLEY – Praise the Lord

RUTTER b.1945 – Hymn to the Creator of Light

SHELLEY World Premiere – Heavenly Father

BACH, J.S. – Lobet den Herrn (Praise the Lord)

Featured image : Conductor Sam Allchurch