Word: glees
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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There are many "unknown" works in musical literature whose neglect is unfortunate, but nevertheless understandable. Cherubini's second Requiem Mass, which the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra performed last night with the Williams Glee Club, is one of these...
Last night's performance, which was led by the Glee Club's conductor, Victor Yellin, was generally uneven, though it too, like the Requiem, had some high points, notably the stunning Gregorian chant tenor solo, sung by Donald Brown. The Williams Glee Club sang with perfect intonation and balance, but these could not make up for its unpolished and open tone. An uneasy, strained quality dominated the performance, relieved only occasionally by sections of tonal warmth...
This year's concert was exemplary on all counts. The light pieces, such as the folk-song arrangements, were not trivial. The modern works showed effective vocal writing, especially Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Fenno Heath, conductor of the Yale Glee Club. The selections from Mozart's Zauberflote provided music which was almost so profound as to be out of place. And there were, of course, the football songs, about which any commentary would be superfluous, if not sacrilegious...
...main reason for the success of this type of concert is the participation of two excellent choruses which are quite different in character and style. The Harvard Glee Club is very large and has a deeper tone than the smaller Yale group. The latter has a lighter quality, emphasizing balance and cohesion, showing itself best in works which are essentially chordal, while the Harvard chorus is strongest in polyphony. The Yale group is perhaps more adapted to performing on its own, and its tone is more rounded, having a sort of sophisticated barber shop quality; while the Harvard chorus sounds...
...particular interest was the first appearance in Cambridge of Elliot Forbes as conductor of the Glee Club, although he led the Radcliffe Choral Society here recently. The inevitable comparisons between him and Professor Woodworth will probably be being made for some time to come, for their approach to choral singing and style of conducting are quite different. The emphasis on diction which was a trademark amounting almost to a fetish in past years has been relaxed, allowing for a smoother, more fluid performance, but sacrificing the percussive element to some degree. There seems to be less attempt at choral "effects...