World-Renowned Vocal Ensemble Polyphony Kicks off Their U.S. Tour in Nashville
On Tuesday, October 14th, Stephen Layton’s ensemble, Polyphony, made the first of nine stops on their tour of the United States at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville. Polyphony, established by English conductor Stephen Layton in 1986, is lauded as one of the premier professional vocal ensembles working today. In addition to a reputation of choral excellence and expert direction, Polyphony is also known for the wide variety of repertoire that they cover with equal mastery. A short dive into their discography will show that the group has recorded works from various composers of different periods and nationalities, from Bach’s St. John Passion to Bruckner’s Mass in E minor and Arvo Pärt’s Triodion. This versatility was furthermore reflected in their evening’s programming, with its wide assortment of music.
The event was well-attended, and at 7:05 pm, the ensemble, sixteen strong (four to each voice part), took the stage. The program was segmented into six sets with one intermission. Each set contained works from composers of the same nationality, beginning with England, then France, Germany, Estonia, the United States, and bookending the recital with a second English set. Polyphony wasted no time in making an impression upon their audience, opening the program with William Byrd’s “Sing Joyfully”. This selection was very apt to lead off the concert as its lyrics invite the listener to “Sing joyfully” and to “sing loud unto the God of Jacob.” In a beautiful juxtaposition of style and tone, Layton followed the selection with a gorgeous rendition of Thomas Tallis’s “If Ye Love Me.” This song wonderfully showcased the group’s purity of tone and truly immaculate ensemble blend. The first English set was closed with Robert Parsons’s Ave Maria and Byrd’s Ne irascaris, Domine. Interestingly, Polyphony’s first English set was the oldest collection of songs on the program, a set of exclusively renaissance music. While the other sets did not seem to follow any particular chronology, this was a wonderful way to begin the evening.
Although Layton leapfrogged into the twentieth century with a Poulenc selection to lead off the French set, the selection was “Timor et Tremor” from Quatre Motets Pour Un Temps de Penitence. The aesthetics of early music were still very much present in tandem with Poulenc’s expert compositional sense for line and harmonic interest. After the Poulenc followed Maurice Durfle’s Notre Père, a short but elegant setting of The Lord’s Prayer. The standout of the French set, however, was easily the closer, Pierre Villette’s O sacrum convivium. Polyphony’s performance of this was simply astounding. The demand of this work was remarkable, but Layton’s ensemble executed the music expertly. There were moments where I had to look over to a friend that I was sitting with and just stare with my jaw hanging open. The technical precision required to execute this work is no small feat, and Polyphony’s extreme contrast within their use of dynamics elevated this performance to a level that only the most seasoned ensembles could produce. The gamut of emotions expressed through the piece was astounding with moments that were hauntingly and terrifyingly beautiful and others that are magnificent and triumphant. The final moment of the piece was simply magical with a fantastic pianissimo sustain from the ensemble over one of the crunchiest sonorities that I have heard employed within choral music. It was a truly stunning moment.
(Photo Keith Saunders)
From the German set, Bruckner’s Ave Maria was the standout performance. The work began with a sweet and lyrical chorale texture in the upper voices. The terraced dynamic changes on the word “Jesus” from the verse “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus” was quite wonderful. Layton’s artistry and connection with his ensemble really shone through his direction of the “amen” cadence to close the song. Watching Layton conduct the ending of a phrase or piece was a fascinating experience. It was unlike any other approach to direction that I had seen before. The way in which he was able to encourage the continuation of sound at almost niente was astounding. This manifested in his body as gentle, fluid and legato motion either vertically or horizontally which suggested a spinning of the sound until the release. And when he finally cued a release, the manner in which he conducted these phrases was equally as smooth and elegant, leading to a completely homogenous stoppage of sound among the ensemble. It was incredible to observe. The final selection before intermission was Joseph Rhienberger’s Abenlied, Op. 69 No. 3. The English translation of the lyrics to the song wonderfully paralleled the structure of the recital: “stay with us, for it is becoming evening, and the day has concluded.”
After a brief intermission, the second act began with two selections from Arvo Pärt. Before the set began, Layton addressed the audience and introduced the two upcoming songs from the Estonian composer. Before the music began, Layton praised Pärt as the greatest living composer of sacred music. Both works from Pärt, “The Deer’s Cry” and “Morning Star”, were very pleasant. The American set featured works from Randall Thompson, Morten Lauridsen, Eric Whitacre, Thomas Thallis, and Daniel Knaggs. Thompson’s Alleluia featured a very triumphant conclusion with some impressive pyrotechnics from the tenors and sopranos with their descending line on a syllabic setting of “Alleluia” towards the top of their respective registers. Finally, the basses had a chance to show off with a sustained low D in the last “Alleluia” statement of the piece. The set concluded with back-to-back settings of the “O Nata Lux” text. Daniel Knaggs setting of this text was easily the standout from the set, featuring a breathtaking moment where, in a swell of building intensity, the cacophony of ensemble sound vanishes leaving the sopranos exposed as they sustain a G above the treble clef staff. The blend among the soprano section was so clean that I could have closed my eyes and believed it to be one voice. The execution was nothing short of world class.
The final English set featured work from Charles Villiers Stanford, C. Hubert H. Parry, and Herbert Howells. Stanford’s “Beati quorum via” from his Three Motets was quite lovely. Howells’s “Salve Reginia” was beautifully pensive and featured a lovely soprano soloist. The final song of the program was Stanford’s “Coelos ascendit hodie”, again from his Three Motets. This short work, just under two minutes long, was a lively and jovial way to close what was an excellent selection of repertoire and an even better performance. The group performed three encores, the last of which was an original composition from Gareth Tresder, one of Polyphony’s tenors. It was very fine work and a great way to cap off the night’s performance.
While there is no shortage of church music to be found in Nashville, deep in the heart of the Bible belt, Music City’s affection for commercial and contemporary music often dwarfs the various art music scenes that the city has to offer. And while there are a fair amount of churches that still perform sacred music in the western classical tradition, the majority of the works that are programmed are either written by living or recently deceased composers, or the works are part of a musical cannon. What was so wonderful about Polyphony’s performance was the sheer variety of repertoire that it introduced audiences to. I was not familiar with a good seventy-five percent of the music on their program. I certainly wasn’t familiar with most of the English renaissance works that were featured on the first set, yet I have found myself returning to the works of William Byrd and Robert Parsons in recent days. I also thoroughly enjoyed hearing choral works from composers who are often branded as orchestral composers or symphonists, such as Poulenc and Bruckner.
Polyphony’s recital provided attendees with a very unique experience to hear live performances of lesser-programmed art and sacred music at its highest level. I found the evening to be a very promising reminder that interest and appreciation for choral music (and art music as a whole) within Nashville is alive and well. Moreso, the concert garnered a diverse audience of folks who were of many different generations and backgrounds. For those interested in further opportunities to find more events like these, St. George’s will be hosting The Choir of Westminster Abbey in April. And please don’t overlook performances at schools and universities in the area. There is lots of art music being performed at a high level daily, and most of these events are free! Often, we don’t realize or simply forget the resources that are available to us. Polyphony’s concert was a reminder that we should all feel heartened at the state of concert music within our city, and that the evening was just a microcosm of all the great art music available to us here.
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Ethan Morrell is a composer and audio engineer from Nashville, Tennessee. He is currently finishing up his Bachelor’s degree at MTSU. In his free time, Ethan enjoys attending concerts, cooking, and following NBA basketball. He is also a co-host of The Fresh Faced Filmbro podcast.
