My cultural weekend continues: Jonathan Moyer plays Messiaen’s “Livre du Saint Sacrement”

My weekend musical bonanza continued this afternoon with an outstanding performance of Olivier Messiaen’s “Livre du Saint Sacrement” performed at the Church of the Covenant in Cleveland by Jonathan William Moyer, the church’s new organist and music director.  The performance was give in honor of the hundredth anniversary of Messiaen’s birth.  Moyer is a doctoral candidate at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and will be performing the work there next week, so this was the out-of-town try-out on the Covenant’s large Aeolian-Skinner organ.  The organ sounded better than usual today; I noticed a large pile of red upholstered pew cushions in the corner–if they were banished permanently, that’s a good thing for the usually dry acoustics in the church.  Messiaen’s organ music sounds best in a reverberant room.

“Livre du Saint Sacrement” is a daunting work in eighteen movements lasting a bit over two hours.  The composer indicates an optional intermission following the eleventh movement, which Moyer observed.  His performance was clear, cleanly played (if perhaps a bit conservative in tempos at times.)  The organ worked surprising well with Messiaen’s registrational instructions.  The notated birdsongs sang out not just from the chancel organ in the front, but sometimes from the antiphonal organ in the back of the church.

There was an unfortunately small audience—I’m guessing mostly Church of the Covenant members.  Several whom I spoke to indicated that the organist had “coached” them in what to expect, with a lecture and film about Messiaen, and very complete program notes.  (I had the benefit of my own copy of the score to follow, but the notes were also very helpful.)

The Church of the Covenant has made a good choice in their new organist, who must have had a bit of trepidation in following the very popular and brilliantly talented Todd Wilson who was in the position for most of the past twenty years.  But Jonathan Moyer acquitted himself admirably today.

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in Cleveland

I turned in my tickets for the Cleveland Orchestra concert on Friday night (Herbert Blomstedt conducting the Beethoven “Eroica” Symphony) in order to hear the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tonu Kaljuste, at the Cathedral of St. John in downtown Cleveland.  I made the right choice.

I have several recordings of the Estonian choir, notably music by fellow Estonian Veljo Tormis, but also a landmark recording of the Rachmaninov “All Night Vespers,” so I knew that they were good, but their performance was nothing short of phenomenal, with laser-like precision in sound and intonation.  The Estonians make John Rutter’s Cambridge Singers and other famous choruses sound as if they are singing quarter-tone music.  What was downright eerie was that the Estonians did not seem to be working very hard to do what they were doing.  The discipline required cannot be underestimated.

The Estonian group has recorded  much of the choral music by Arvo Pärt (probably the Estonian composer best known in the West), and the first half of this program was devoted to Pärt’s music.  Only one of the works, “Da pacem Domine,” has been recorded.  The find of this program was Pärt’s 2004-2005 work “L’Abbe Agathon,” a musical parable about an abbot who encounters a leper and demonstrates Christian charity.  Sung in French, it was very moving. A soprano soloist sang the role of the leper, and a baritone soloist was the abbot.  The choir were corporate narrators (in much the same way that the chorus is the narrator in Pärt’s “St. John Passion.”)

The second half opened with an instrumental work by Erkki-Sven Tüür, “Action, Passion, Illusion,” which was also striking, especially the central “Passion” movement, which moved from low string polyphony upward through the string orchestra, ending in an unsettling high string cluster.

The remainder of the program was devoted to Antonio Vivaldi’s setting of Psalm 112, “Beatus vir” for strings, continuo, soloists and choir.  The virtuoso soloists were all drawn from the choir.

As I’ve written before here, I think that there are in general too many standing ovations in Cleveland, but this is one concert that I can honestly and vigorously say deserved the ovation the performers received.  The audience was rewarded with an encore, a meltingly beautiful arrangement of an Estonian Christmas carol, mostly for women’s voices with strings, but in the end with the men humming along on the tune.

This concert has to be considered one of the top concerts of this season.  Cathedral music director Greg Heislman is to be congratulated and thanked for bringing the Estonians.  (The concert was also co-sponsored by the Cleveland Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.)

Twenty-five years at Euclid Avenue Congregational Church

On Sunday, November 2, 2008, I celebrated twenty-five years as Director of Music at Euclid Avenue Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ, in Cleveland, Ohio.  I began there (as Interim Director) on November 1, 1983.  During that time I have survived three permanent ministers, at least that many interim ministers, associate pastors, directors of Christian Education, secretaries, and custodians.  What better way to celebrate than to give a recital?  You can download the program. (PDF).  (Audio samples forthcoming)

The church publicity committee did a good job of getting the word out, and there were between 75 and 100 people present, including  a fair number that I didn’t recognize, and some friends whom I would not have expected to see.

I am never fully satisfied with my own playing, but it went reasonably well.  There are always things to improve.  George turned pages for me and pulled stops in several of the pieces, especially the Messiaen “Apparition”. It is (I think) more nerve-wracking to turn pages and pull stops than it is to perform.  But he was very confident and things came off without a hitch.

After the concert there was a lovely reception in the church parlor, with spoken tributes by several people.  I am pleased to say that the church is taking up an “anniversary collection” on my behalf that will be used for scholarships for persons wishing to study organ.  It is a wonderful idea–much better than a gift to me; I have more than enough of my own.  The church also commissioned a quite amusing iron sculpture that is a caricature of me playing the organ and conducting at the same time.  Everyone should have a statue!  I may not have an Oscar, but I still have a statue.

Voting Complete! You should vote early, too!

I took the afternoon off work today to go to my doctor’s office to get my flu shot (about five minutes, in and out), and then to go downtown Cleveland to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections to vote in the general election. I have had visions of huge lines at my regular polling place on E. 79th Street, where they are, shall we say, not fantastically competent. (I always have trouble getting them to understand my name, even when I spell it: it’s ROBSON, not Roberson, not Robison, not Robinson. Why is it so hard?)

Anyway, the Board of Elections was a model of competence. (A characterization that it has not always been possible to make.) There was a large number of people waiting to vote, but the line moved very quickly and everything was well-organized. The employees were all unfailingly pleasant and friendly, and they gave good instructions to each voter. They give each person a clipboard with the ballot envelope attached, which each person fills out with name, address, and vital statistics. When you get to the front of the line, you hand that clipboard to the clerk, who looks up your information in their database. You’re given another piece of paper to sign, and then the clerk goes to the back to get the ballot (two back-to-back legal size sheets of heavy paper, with fill-in-the-dots). The ballot is massive, which justified my reason to go to early voting. It took me a good ten minutes to complete filling in the dots on the ballot, and I ready quickly and I was familiar with the issues. I predict disasters at the polls on November 4, and I encourage all who can to vote early.

Vote for McCain, get more of the same

A new ad, out today from the Ohio Democratic Party. More imaginative than most.

Parade the Circle 2008

Yesterday was Parade the Circle in Cleveland, one of my favorite summer events.  The day started out cloudy and a bit drizzly, but by the time the parade began at noon, it was sunny and warm, with just a few clouds in the sky–perfect for a parade.  I always take lots of pictures. This year, however, I also took video, which I’ve posted on YouTube. (I’ll eventually get the still pictures posted to flickr.) The video is in three parts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Parade the Circle photos posted

I have posted my Parade the Circle photos from last Saturday’s event on flickr.com. You can view them here.

Parade the Circle 2006

Last Saturday was Parade the Circle in University Circle. It’s one of my favorite summer-in-Cleveland events. The weather started out on the cool side with a brisk breeze, but it warmed up during the day, and there was a large crowd. I’ve posted my pictures to Flickr.

Easter at EACC 2006

Easter at EACC 2006,
originally uploaded by Virtual Farm Boy.

[Click on the photo above to see all of the Easter 2006 photos.]

Every Easter Sunday after church all in attendance gather on the front lawn and each person is given a helium-filled balloon. The balloons each have a card attached signed by a church member. At the signal from the Pastor (“The Lord is risen!” “The Lord is risen indeed!”) everyone releases their balloons and they float skyward. The cards have a place for the people who find them to fill in their names and location and to mail them back to the church. There are usual between 15 and 20 postcards returned, sometimes from as far away as New York and Pennsylvania.