Faure Requiem

One of the great lesser-known works of choral literature is the Requiem of Gabriel Faure. Written near the end of the 19th Century, this hauntingly beautiful score stands apart, almost completely detached from the influences of the late Romantic era. It is a brooding, restless piece, characterized by tentative, unresolved progressions, chromatic exploration, repeated figures, and a limited but unusual harmonic scheme. Above all it illustrates Faure's extremely delicate feeling for both line and texture, his carefully balanced sense of structure and climax.

Last night's performance by the Harvard Glee Club, the Radcliffe Choral Society, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra was a careful, finished production which lacked the sweep necessary for this work, but which made up for this by a nearly letter-perfect dependability. The chorus supplied its usual polished tone and disciplined ensemble. The main surprise came from the string section of the orchestra, which finally broke down, in the Agnus Dei, and sang, highlighting a performance which was unusual for its clarity and accuracy. In one superb but all too short phrase, the Orchestra demonstrated that it knows how to deal with a lyrical passage.

Much of the performance's distinction came from the conductor, Elliott Forbes, who seemed in control of every moment. His largeness of conception, together with a scrupulous attention to shaping detail proved equal to the difficult combination of subtlety and scope that this work presents.

But again, as always, top honors rests with the soloists, O'Brien Nicholas and Thomas Beveridge. By now, heaping any more praise on these two becomes boring to reviewer and reader, but they insist on turning in performance after immaculate performance of the highest musicianship. Last night it seemed as though Beveridge might have trouble with his high part, but his complete mastery over his voice and unerring phrasing pulled him through. Miss Nicholas surpassed her best with a flawless reading of an enormously difficult sustained aria. Her voice had even more richness and color than in the past.

The overall sound was consistent and balanced, marred only by the lack of bass and excessive reediness resulting from the lack of a big church organ. The substitute, a Rieger pipe-organ borrowed from the N.E. Conservatory of Music was well played by John Ferris, but could not supply the depth required.

The first half of the program consisted of Hindemith's Symphony in E-flat, composed in 1930. This is a turgid, tense work, and it received a rather turgid, tense performance. There were some passages of technical finesse and sparkle, particularly the wind sections of the last movement; but most of it was pretty dogged. Aside from some intonation problems, the notes were faithfully gone through, showing effort but very little imagination; as a result, the big, well-scored passages sounded good, the small, thin sections were dull.

The orchestra's balance faltered only through the domination of an exceptionally snarling brass section. The frequent long building passages, leading to the inevitable climax of a loud brass phrase under a string ostinato and trilling winds, were expertly guided by the Orchestra's regular conductor, Attilio Poto. Adequate preparation and generally vigorous playing made austere work interesting to hear but one looked forward to the imminent reward of the Faure at hand.