Above : Conductor Brett Weymark led choir members and instrumentalists Fiona and Leone Ziegler (violins), Nicole Forsyth (viola), Paul Stender (cello) and Claire Howard-Race (piano) in an exquisite and beautifully lit use of The Cutaway space. This photo and featured image by Jacquie Manning.
A common trajectory which has inspired musical expression and events for centuries involves the presentation of place or situation, entropic descent into a dark place, the effort needed to overcome challenges with perhaps a cry for help, then the beautiful lightness of beings in recovery, experiencing relief.
Artistic Director of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Brett Weymark, curated choral and instrumental music from Gregorian Chant to very recent years and across continents to convey the journey of a tested soul moving towards the light.
This Sydney Festival entertainment, Night Of The Soul, offered so much more than a mere pastiche of intensities across eras and styles. Audience members witnessed the contrasts along this cultural and emotional camino in a novel way, seated or lying on cushions, blankets or yoga mats to individually process the tensions and relief or energy and stillness being described at the venue’s centre.
This event in a responsive acoustic and vvisually pleasing setting offered us up the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ signature versatiliy, seamless, well-structured choral voice and their exciting interpretative skill shown off across a wide range of live atmospheres.
Above: Choristers in circle formation ready to travel through audience on the floor to the venue’s epicentre to perform with Brett Weymark and the five instrumentalists. Photo credit: Jacquie Manning,
From my vantage point, taking the opportunity to lie and relax after some hectic weeks of Sydney life, I was lucky enough to see the dusk sky darken to night through the exposed Cutaway ceiling area which opens to the outside world. As the choir journeyed towards the emotional light, some stunning light effects were strewn across the venue ceiling and lights outside streamed through vegetation and played with fine smoke machine mists. The result was magical. It was also an organic progression from the 2020 Dawn Chorus event, which sung us to first light.
Both these innovative performance projects used the work ‘Tarimi Nulay-Long Time Living Here’ by Deborah Cheetham with Matthew Doyle’s deft translation of the Gadigal language into English. The early stages of both events were in this way nicely centered in time, place and country from which global choral statements could then emerge and pass through their respective ends of the day.
The rewarding aspect of Night Of The Soul’s four-part programme and programmatic journey from a darkened soul back to light was the breaking up of choral timbre with effective moments for instruments.
We heard Arvo Part’s string quartet Summa in ‘Part Two: Into Darkness’ and an amazingly smooth and still performance on violin and piano of the same composer’s meditative slow-release work, Spiegel im Spiegel during ‘Part Four : The Journey Towards The Light’. These were not only useful moments to punctuate and pause the use of text and choral communication but were memorable moments of true transcendence during this evening.
Above : Brett Weymark OAM led the choir and instrumentalists at The Cutaway venue in this special music-in-the-round event. Photo credit: Jacquie Manning.
Such deep and effective creaton of atmosphere was also laid before us and washed over our heightened receptiveness during the event’s ‘Part Three : The Trial’. A bristling rendition of the heartbreaking Agnus Dei by Samuel Barber based on his Adagio for Strings Op 11 was captivating, building gently, guiding us through its several familiar levels of tension and release.
Each new composer of choral works in the programme, and the evocative works themselves played a perfect part in paving the way out of darkness and assuaging also our fragile sensibilities as pandemic survivors. Never before could the chance to chill before quality choral music from across the globe on a venue floor be such a welcome experience.
Notable along this path were the pieces Nox Arumque (Golden Night) and its partner piece Lux Arumque (Golden Light) composed by by Eric Whitacre from the United States. The final work of the night, Ola Gjeilo’s Luminous Night of The Soul was virtuosically sung to conclude the night as Weymark and choir carved through its complexities and contrasts with heightened eloquence and energy.
At the end of this experience we sat up, applauded, cheered and returned to the stunningly lit Cutaway space from our assorted levels of meditation with renewed hope. Fitting Festival exuberance and the thrill of being able to venture out for music here mixed with wonder and gratitude. Night Of The Soul is to be a Sydney Festival highlight with regards to live music . It was in all moments a worthwhile, special exposure to the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and accompanying local instrumentsalists which thrilled our chilled-out collective consciousness.