Four-voice ensemble soars
N.Y. Polyphony celebrates sacred music of High Renaissance
Baroque music was born of dance, while the classical period stressed style and form.
The Renaissance embraced it all.
New York Polyphony will demonstrate that breadth in a concert on Friday at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John.
The quartet grounds itself in the sacred, four-voice music of the High Renaissance.
It also performs works by contemporary composers who write in the Renaissance style of the 14th through the 17th centuries. That period marked the transition between medieval and modernity.
Think voices soaring in cavernous cathedrals.
Midwifed in professional New York choirs 13 years ago, New York Polyphony is considered one of the foremost vocal chamber ensembles active today. Their repertoire ranges from Gregorian chant to cutting-edge compositions and rare, undiscovered Renaissance and medieval works. Their recordings have earned them two Grammy Award nominations.
Friday’s date marks their fourth at the Cathedral of St. John.
“I was brought up the son of church organists,” countertenor Geoffrey Williams said in a telephone interview from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he is studying for a doctorate in conducting. “It’s music meant to be sung without accompaniment. It’s music meant to be sung in good New York Polyphony will perform at Episcopal Cathedral of St. John on Friday, Feb. 22.
spaces like the cathedral in Albuquerque.
“What we do best is High Renaissance polyphony,” Williams said. “It’s just the four of us without microphones.”
The singers will open with Philippe Verdelot’s “Gabriel Archangelus.”
“He was one of the first composers to come from Flanders to Italy,” Williams said. “He taught the Italian composers Renaissance style.
Contemporary composer Gregory Brown’s “Missa Charles Darwin” forms the evening’s centerpiece. Brown is the brother to “The Da Vinci Code’s” Dan Brown. His latest book “Origin” features a reference to his brother’s composition.
“The composer and I grew up together,” Williams said.
The central message of the Kyrie is one of supplication and mercy, while Darwin’s natural selection is inherently lacking in both. The format both venerates Darwin and a celebration of belief.
The singers will follow the 22-minute piece with missives to Mary in medieval and Renaissance settings.
Michael McGlynn’s “Opia Virgo” was composed for New York Polyphony in memory of Sir John Tavener, whose Orthodox-inspired voice it captures. John Scott, organist and music director at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue set the medieval “There Is No Rose” through a labyrinth of key changes, always with an ear to the stark harmonies of the original carol.
“We’re trying to find composers who like the old style and the counterpoint,” Williams said. “It’s strippeddown, but it doesn’t lose its humanity and warmth.”