Word: modality
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...baritone and piano by Thomas Beveridge, sung by the composer, with Frederic Rzewski accompanying. The four songs, based upon a German text, treat each of the seasons in turn: Fall (prayer), Winter (song of the inner soul), Spring (creation), and Summer (music of the spheres). Beveridge writes in a modal style. His lyrical melodies, though expressive, are seldom very distinctive. The pieces contain an abundance of material out of proportion to their length, for the music attempts to follow every change of the text without being sufficiently integrated. The form of the songs, as a result, is generally weak, although...
John Austin, whose music is familiar to Harvard audiences, was represented by two sets of pieces: Five Settings of a Locrian chorale, for piano, and Four Modal Canons, for two violins and viola. The first group is not very good; the second, much better. Austin's piano music is an agglomeration of modal progressions, cast in big thick chords insensitively connected. There is nothing particularly cerebral in his style. Little is said. The same applies to the Canons. There-part canon at the unison or octave is difficult to write, since the harmonies during the imitations are somewhat limited...
...modern composers were featured on the program. John Austin '56 contributed Two Airs that showed his skill in keeping counterpoint under harmonic control. The Airs were short and rather lightweight but they had a lovely lyrical modal style. The other, the String Quartet Op. 50 by Prokofieff, is a somewhat inconsistant piece. There were moments of inspired writing, particularly when the 'cello had the melody up high against bitter chords in the upper strings. The slow last movement, however, seemed out of place and style of the other movements. The work received a fine passionate reading from the Quartet, with...
...Union. A lovely French carol, Le Miracle de Saint Nicholas, was especially well articulated by the Radcliffe Chorus and six soloists. Among the modern pieces which Radcliffe performed were Britten's exquisite Balulalow, originally written for children's voices, and Christmas Bell by Thomas Beveridge '59. Beveridge combined modal harmony to a nicely vocal melody but, for the only time during the concert, the singers' intonation was somewhat faulty. Radcliffe sang Vaughan Williams' Winter, and the chorus' cleanest attacks of the evening helped make this piece strong and exciting. The first sopranos were shrill, however, in the upper register...
Ending the program on a light note, the chorus sang football and folk songs. The best of these was Casey Jones, which Edward Lawton '34 rejuvenated with deceptive cadences and a modal setting. In the football songs the singers exercised their penchant for strident tone without doing any musical harm. If they could learn more restraint in performing serious music, this would be one of the finest Glee Clubs of recent years, and a fitting group to represent Harvard in Europe...