The Harvard Glee Club

The first local concert of the Harvard Glee Club served as a preview as well as a benefit for its projected European tour next summer. Several of the works performed on Friday night are being groomed for Europe, anda portion of the concert was sung only by the singers on the European list.

The concert centered about two magnificent choral works, one from the early 17th century and the other from the present day. The early work, sung by the entire Glee Club, was Gabriceli's In Ecclesiis, originally written for two mixed choruses and full brass choir. Friday's performance was severely cut and arranged for men's voices and piano, but even in this version the brilliance and architectural majesty of the music was apparent. The Glee Club tone was large and at times rather strident.

Fully balancing the power of the Gabricli work was a series of scenes from Oedipus Rex, a setting by Igor Stravinsky of Jean Cocteau's Latin text. The use of piano accompaniment reduced the effectiveness of Stravinsky's rhythmically complex and dramatic score, but exciting singing from the European list group counteracted the lack of an orchestra. I Carter Brown '56 was an excellent narrator and Robert L. Loud '56 sang the part of a messenger lustily. Donald Parsons 1G had too light and lyric a tenor voice for the extremely difficult role of Oedipus.

The only other contemporary work on the program was The Last Words of David by Randall Thompson '20, in his own arrangement for men's voices. Mastery of the chorus has made Thompson the most popular choral composer in the United States. The Last Words of David is a typical work, concentrating on simplicity and using modal harmonies. The style, however, is a little too conscious of choral effect. The European list singers contributed some fine singing in the Thompson chorus and were even better in Dvorak's Magdlein im Walde. Conductor G. Wallace Woodworth was in his stylistic element and led this pleasant piece to a faultless performance.

Ending the program on a light note, the chorus sang football and folk songs. The best of these was Casey Jones, which Edward Lawton '34 rejuvenated with deceptive cadences and a modal setting. In the football songs the singers exercised their penchant for strident tone without doing any musical harm. If they could learn more restraint in performing serious music, this would be one of the finest Glee Clubs of recent years, and a fitting group to represent Harvard in Europe.