Choral Classic Reborn At Woolsey

Music’s ability to offer hope or resilience, to soothe or to bolster, is often a feature of the conversation around public performance of classical music. In Woolsey Hall on Sunday afternoon, washed entirely in natural light, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra amplified that message.

On one hand, there was hope for the future of a great — astounding, truly — American choral work: ​“The Ordering of Moses” by R. Nathaniel Dett, an oratorio written and premiered in the 1930s but which has only really begun to enter the canon of regular performance in the last decade. 

On the other hand, there was what felt like a balm in a time that is, for many, uncertain and terrifying in equal measure. This was in part accomplished by the 90-minute uninterrupted run of the performance, where the first third of the program featured performances by organist Nathaniel Gumbs, a particularly moving arrangement of the spiritual ​“Go Down Moses” performed by the Heritage Chorale of New Haven, and two opportunities for participatory singing.

Maestro Perry So introduced the concert as the Connecticut premiere of ​“The Ordering of Moses,” and programmed compositions and arrangements largely by Dett’s contemporaries, fellow Black American composers, including Florence Price, in an effort to give a context to the vibrant artistic circumstances in which these composers were working.

The organ performances were especially invigorating. Gumbs made a spectacular display of the finale of Price’s Sonata No. 1, drawing clarity out of a dizzying series of modulations and technical flourishes firmly grounded in the expected language of the organ. Moments of extreme density were shaped by breaths and pauses in the music, where the massed sound of the organ had the chance to reverberate in the hall a bit before the music continued.

Similarly, an introduction to ​“We Shall Overcome,” arranged by Gumbs, brought the familiar hymn of the Civil Rights movement into almost cinematic territory, with sparkling ostinati in the treble range while the melody appeared, fragmented, on the lower voices of the instrument. 

The harmonic treatment here was particularly effective, bringing a level of complexity to this common melody that then transitioned seamlessly to an a cappella choral arrangement. The audience was invited to join the singers, including the Heritage Chorale, the New Haven Chorale, and the Fairfield County Chorale, in this and the performance of ​“Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

More voices joined in than not, though some faltered at times due to the unexpected emotional rawness of singing, in public, these workhorses of the Civil Rights movement in America. Perhaps in this time they take on a new resonance. Perhaps there is an intimacy to public music making, in a time where this form of expression is often left to professionals, religious communities, and social media, that serves as a tonic to frayed nerves. Whatever the reason, kudos to the NHSO for carving out some space for this activity on the program, where it felt like a natural progression in the sequence, rather than a gimmick or distraction.

The orchestra then got to work on ​“The Ordering of Moses”, an oratorio with an expository narrative (rather than a staged narrative like opera), woven throughout 15 scenes led variously by the orchestra, the vocal soloists, and the choir. While the narrative elements certainly explained some of the compositional choices from one movement to the next, the deft, elastic orchestration and expansive harmonies employed by Dett gave this work a real coherence throughout its performance. 

Sometimes there was a distinct spiritual writing, including places which worked with the melody of ​“Go Down Moses.” But Dett’s language involved romanticism, baroque elaboration and modern harmony in turn, and was thoroughly a pleasure to hear evolve throughout the work.

Given the demands of the piece, including some wonderful solo cello alongside baritone Kenneth Overton in the work’s opening, the NHSO delivered a confident performance, as though this piece was the well-seasoned bit of American orchestral repertoire it clearly deserves to be. Often the solo voices (including soprano Amani Cole Felder, mezzo-soprano Krysty Swann, and tenor Albert Lee) were paired with a single melodic instrument in an intricate duet, while the rest of the orchestra was left to bubble up and evolve around these voices. And there were many lush moments where the choir and organ were employed as part of the orchestral texture; the former singing wordless melodies alongside an animated solo trumpet, while the latter would powerfully reinforce some of the rich harmonies which were a feature of this piece. 

At the climax of the piece, a powerful chord, bolstered by high notes from Cole Felder and Lee, delivered an astonishing density of sound. But rather than ending on that triumphant note, Dett weaved the orchestra through one final feint before sticking an impactful final landing a few phrases later. The audience leapt to their feet in applause, and seemed to soar out into the remaining daylight.