BY WENDY SWANSON
|Secretary
Los Alamos Choral Society
The May 2 Los Alamos Choral Society Concert features a variety of choral styles and sources: (Scottish Folk) Ballads, Brahms’ (rich harmony set to poetry), American Negro Spirituals, Broadway Musical (Choral Medley) Fiddler on the Roof.
The program includes:
Robert Burns Ballads James Mulholland
A Red Red Rose
Highland Mary
The Banks O’ Doon Ivana Austell, flute
Vier Quartette (Op 92) Johannes Brahms: Oschöne Nacht (O Beautiful Night!), poem by Georg Friedrich Daumen
Abendlied (Evening Song), poem by Friedrich Hebbel
Warum (Why?), poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goete
African American Spirituals: My Lord, What a Mornin’ Harold T. Burleigh, Ain’-a That Good News! William L. Dawson
Fiddler on the Roof (Choral Medley from the musical) Sheldon Harnick (composer), Jerry Lewis Bock (lyricist), arr. Ed Lojeski
Eleanor Davis, violin • Paul Tibadaux, percussion • Nick Denissen, guitar· • Ivanna Austell, flute • Mark Rayburn, bass guitar
Program Notes:
Robert Burns (Scottish poet and lyricist,1759-1796) composed and collected folk tunes, creating ballads written in the Scots dialect. James Q. Mulholland (b. 1935) composed the music for the Robert Burns Ballads. The arrangements alternate between gentle, folk-like melodies and more dramatic, rhythmic sections with emotional volatility.
The theme of A Red, Red Rose is deep, lasting romantic devotion with the promise of loyalty.
Highland Mary emphasizes themes of sentimental memory, idealized love, and the sadness of separation.
The Banks O’ Doon explores the sorrow of love lost or betrayed, contrasting the beauty of nature with the pain of personal heartbreak.
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) composed Vier Quartette (Op. 92) completing it during the summer of 1884. The overarching theme of the quartets (three are performed today) is the romantic atmosphere of evening and the various emotions it evokes, ranging from amorous joy to deep melancholy.
O Schöne Nacht (O Beautiful Night!) is a rapturous and romantic celebration of the night.
Abendlied (Evening Song) is a meditation on the peaceful transition from day to night, where pain and joy dissolve into sleep.
Warum asks why song and joy resound only to fade away, ending on a reflective lebhaft (lively) but philosophical note.
Quartettes Performed in German. The English translation in the program is by Emily Ezust, from the LiederNet Archive.
Harry Thacker Burleigh (1866–1949) was a trailblazing African-American composer, baritone, and arranger who brought spirituals to the classical concert stage. Burleigh’s arrangement of the Negro Spiritual, “My Lord, What a Mornin’” is a powerful piece with rich choral texture. The lyrics in the slow, emotive movement, “My Lord, what a mornin’ when de stars begin to fall,” convey awe and express the hope that justice will be served at the end of time.
William L. Dawson (1899–1990) was an American composer, choir director, professor, and musician. Deeply rooted in the flowering era of the American a cappella choir and African-American folk traditions, Dawson composed a widely-performed repertoire of original American choral music. Among his compositions are world-famous arrangements of spirituals, including “Ain’a That Good News.” This spirited and joyful African American spiritual delivers a message of hope and salvation centered on themes of redemption.
Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Lewis Bock collaborated on the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof. Bock (1928–2010), an American musical theater composer, and Harnick (1924–2023), an American lyricist and songwriter, received a Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist for the musical. Ed Lojeski (1942–2020), arranged Fiddler. He had wide experience as a nationally-known performer and show producer and was reputed to be one of the finest choral arrangers and directors of his time.
Fiddler on the Roof, set in 1905 czarist Russia, tells the story of Tevye, a poor Jewish dairyman in Anatevka, who struggles to maintain cultural traditions amid changing times and rising antisemitism. The fiddler is a metaphor for survival and balance in uncertain times. Tevye grapples with the problem of his three eldest daughters, who reject arranged marriages for love, forcing the family to adapt or break with tradition. Facing forced expulsion from their village by Russian authorities, the family and community are displaced, reflecting the fragility of Jewish life while still holding onto hope.