{"id":35924,"date":"2016-04-06T12:44:13","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T16:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=35924"},"modified":"2016-04-06T12:45:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T16:45:53","slug":"scrutiny-esprit-orchestra-break-down-barriers-with-la-creation-du-monde","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/04\/06\/scrutiny-esprit-orchestra-break-down-barriers-with-la-creation-du-monde\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Esprit Orchestra Break Down Barriers With La Cr\u00e9ation Du Monde"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esprit Orchestra branches out with the Elmer Iseler Singers in La Cr\u00e9ation Du Monde.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Esprit
Esprit Orchestra in rehearsal with Alex Pauk at Koerner Hall, March 31, 2016. (Photo: Esprit Orchestra)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Esprit Orchestra (Alex Pauk, conductor) and Elmer Iseler Singers (Lydia Adams, conductor) at Koerner Hall. March 31, 2016.<\/h3>\n

New music can be a messy affair. Any composer, arts administrator or performer will tell you this, but within the mess is the joy of discovery, the chance to take something that is roughly hewn and to polish and refine it. This may seem like an ominous way to start a concert review, but Esprit Orchestra\u2019s final 2015-16 concert, titled Le Cr\u00e9ation Du Monde<\/em>, broke down some notable barriers for the orchestra, including the programming an early twentieth century work as well as a collaboration with another fine local musical body, the Elmer Iseler Singers. Is there a mess involved here? Not really, though new forms of programming and collaboration can make a road bumpier than usual, as sometimes witnessed last Thursday in Koerner Hall. Esprit Orchestra is, and remains, the only new music orchestra in Canada, and because of this, it is intriguing to see the orchestra branching out in these directions and trying messy things.<\/p>\n

The concert opened with the early twentieth-century piece mentioned above, Darius Milhaud\u2019s ballet La Cr\u00e9ation Du Monde<\/em>. Milhaud was a prominent member of the French composer-collective Les Six<\/em>, who sought to push against the stylisms of both Wagner and Debussy\u2019s music, which were crowding the Parisian concert halls. Musically, Milhaud\u2019s music is light, classical in touch and illuminated by colourful chords. The 1923 ballet remains one of the first classical works to display jazz influences, one year before Gershwin\u2019s Rhapsody in Blue.<\/p>\n

Although, we must remember that it is better to give credit to those who do it best rather than those who do it first: Milhaud\u2019s subdued, dignified ballet now sounds dated and painfully aloof, despite some jewel-like solos from Esprit\u2019s woodwind players. I think we can agree that orchestras need to program more diverse early-twentieth-century works, but let\u2019s forget about this one.<\/p>\n

Following this piece were excerpts from Hussein Janmohamed\u2019s choral work, Nur: Reflections on Light<\/em>, where members of the Elmer Iseler Singers encircled the audience and submerged Koerner Hall in a multifaceted prism of diatonic vocalise (or perhaps it was Arabic? No texts were provided in the programme). The effect was potent, with conductor Lydia Adams drawing out a total commitment from her singers.<\/p>\n

Next was Douglas Schmidt\u2019s \u201csort of tone poem\u201d Sirens<\/em>, based as expected on the mythological bird and human woman hybrid, whose songs were said to lure men to their deaths on the high seas. The piece distinctly featured a trio of characters: The piece opens hauntingly with bassoon and piccolo solos, representing the song of the sirens. Gradually we are introduced to the third character, a harmonium (played by keyboardist Stephen Clarke), which represented the unfortunate man gradually being lured to his untimely death. Entertainingly, the piece featured our tragic hero the harmonium as it burped, wheezed, and clambered through a lengthy cadenza of tone clusters that came across as comical and ill-fitting rather than revelatory.<\/p>\n

Alex Pauk\u2019s cantata Devotions<\/em> finally united guests Elmer Iseler Singers along with Esprit Orchestra. The work had a few moments of spiritual ecstasy in the first and fifth movements, though the text, a compendium of verses ranging from the Tao Te Ching<\/em> to the Bible to Pauk\u2019s own writing, occasionally had the hazy aroma of a new age conference: \u201cSing. Praise. Sing to your God. Pray to your God. Amen. Luminous, shining sphere ascend.\u201d The Elmer Iseler Singers bravely tackled the angular vocal writing, but were sometimes buried under thick orchestral textures. If only the choir were twice as big!<\/p>\n

Esprit Orchestra has yet to announce their 2016-17 season, but let\u2019s hope it\u2019s just as adventurous and collaborative.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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