Freshman Choral Concert

One reason why the Harvard Glee Club maintains its quality appeared last night: the Harvard Freshman Glee Club, directed by Truman Bullard. In its concert with the Radcliffe Freshman Choral Society, it displayed the same energy, control, and rich tone that made its Christmas recital so impressive. The 'Cliffies added definite visual, and some aural, esthetic satisfaction.

The major works on the program, jointly performed by the two choruses, were di Lasso's Penitential Psalm, 'De Profundis,' Beethoven's 'Elegischer Gesang,' Op. 118, and Schubert's Mass in G Major. The worst-performed, Schubert's Mass, written at 18, suffered from an execrable accompaniment by a small string ensemble. In their solo passages, the strings sounded uniformly out of tune, weak, uncertain, and uncoordinated Beneath the chorus, they could only muddle the texture a little, but almost did derange the pitch and rhythm of the three excellent soloists. Sure and accurate, Tenor David Griffith, Soprano Emily Romney and Bass Chi-Yuen Wang successfully staved off the strings, but were drowned by the chorus's volume. Except at a few points, it seemed that the chorus had been through the whole thing before and was tiredly stampeding home: Frederic H. Ford, conductor at the Radcliffe Freshman Choral Society, whipped it through the Sanctus at a gallop.

The 'De Profundis,' sixth of a set of seven penitential psalms, displayed the Glee Club more to advantage. Kapellmeister di Lasso began the set of psalms under commission from Duke Albert of Bavaria in 1563. He based the sixth psalm on a cantus firmus (chant melody) which recurs in each movement of the piece. The Radcliffe Society had consistent trouble making its entrances, but the chorus, though occasionally bottom-heavy, preserved the viscous fluidity of Lasso's style. The men's chorus, by the way, has fine basses, and exploits them well; but sometimes instead of stabilizing they sink the ship.

The loosely flowing, and surprisingly modern, harmonies of three early composers best displayed the dynamic control and agility of the Glee Club's voices. After a 'Suabian Folk Song' by Brahms, an arrangement by Vaughan Williams, and an unwitting parody on schmaltz by Paul Creston, richness palled: what the Glee Club needed was more good, lean music like the Bartok 'Three Folk Songs.' To these the Choral Society gave its strongest and most straightforward performance of the evening.

Almost every recent concert in Cambridge has started ten to twenty minutes late, and this one was no exception. Certainly the music was worth waiting for, but even artists could be punctual.