Present Music’s Thanksgiving Program of Soul-Stirring Music

by

“My soul is as peaceful as a child sleeping in its mother’s arms.”

That text from Psalm 131, the last line from Aaron Jay Kernis’s Simple Songs, formed a fitting end to a program of uniquely soul-stirring music in Present Music’s long tradition of Thanksgiving concerts, this time at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. During a pre-concert talk, composer Raven Chacon reflected on the recent pandemic and how it emphasized, for him and for many in attendance, the need to be “in the presence of the art.” We all experienced a reduction in that communal activity and can now be more grateful for the moments we do get to share with live music.

Indigenous voices featured prominently in this program, a timely delight with the film Killers of the Flower Moon bringing Native American history to the forefront of our consciousness. The concert began and ended with a drum circle and chant by local Little Priest Singers of the Ho-Chunk Nation, their ecstatic sound reverberating through the cathedral. Next was ko’u inoa by Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) composer Leilehua Lanzilotti, based on the anthem Hawai’I Aloha. Fast string arpeggios created constant resonance, with long tones in the oboe, like waves lapping a shore.

Local composer Brian Packham received a premiere of his commissioned work Staircase Variations for the ensemble of flute, clarinet, bassoon, percussion, harp, string quartet, and double bass. The title was apt, as the theme had the instruments gently stepping over each other, building upward. An autumnal mood prevailed in the first few variations, then gathered momentum into some exciting faster material that evoked a deepening mystery, before reaching a dramatic peak featuring the violin. At times it was hard to perceive the seams between variations because they occupied similar territory, but in 2023 we don’t need to be shackled to a rigid sense of form. Later segments developed a longer, slower build to a final climax. I was impressed by Packham’s long-term pacing and the textures built from this large ensemble.

email newsletter iconStay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.

SIGN UP

Utterly Haunting

Diné (Navajo) composer Raven Chacon has an important connection with Present Music; the group premiered his Voiceless Mass, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Music. His gifts as a composer were on full display in Owl Song, which drew from a Yakima Nation concept of the owl as a shapeshifter. This utterly haunting music for soprano and ensemble conjured a tableau of mystical scenes. Swells of microtonal strings, primal cries, deep drum hits and abstract electronic playback created an atmosphere that constantly hovered between disorientation and ecstasy. Though the cathedral’s acoustic enhanced the sound, the sightlines proved problematic. Singer Adriadne Greif was positioned to one side of the altar/stage, which from my seat was blocked by a large marble podium. I wished I could have seen her face as she performed this piece; her wordless vocals blended with the ensemble before erupting in chilling cry-shouts. Thankfully, her position was adjusted for more visibility for the rest of the concert.

A string quartet arrangement of John Dowland’s Flow My Tears served as a lovely intermezzo before Simple Songs. Aaron Jay Kernis assembled texts from Hildegard von Bingen, Psalms, Japanese Zen master Ryokan and Sufi poet Rumi into a nondenominational spiritual meditation that was just right to set the mood before Thanksgiving. These chamber art songs were arrestingly beautiful, soaring with life at times and then pulling inward to focus on the text. Adriadne Greif performed as usual with great conviction and a pliable instrument that embraced the full range Kernis called for. The only issue concerned sound balance. Greif projected powerfully to send the words to the back of the church, but the acoustic took some of the edge off the diction, and her microphone pushed the volume level a bit over the edge. The final song, set to Psalm 131, conveyed a world-weariness inspired by Mahler’s great slow movements like the Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. Greif was especially affecting here, from the opening exclamations of “Lord! Lord! Lord!” to the final affirmations of peace.

After this gentle coming to rest, the Little Priest Singers returned for a sendoff drum circle, plunging us back into the midst of peoples and history of the Good Land. Some audience members joined a dance line that traced the lengths of the cathedral.

This concert left me more spiritually filled than any this year. The kaleidoscope of traditions coming together to explore life’s mysteries achieved something deep and rich. Credit must be given to co-artistic director and conductor David Bloom, a thoughtful presenter and quietly effective leader in music whose challenges may not always be apparent to the audience because Present Music pulls it off with such aplomb.