�Christmas in Medieval England,� Blue Heron�s much-loved holiday offering, is back. [�]
Blue Heron performed �Christmas in Medieval England� Friday night at First Church in Cambridge. Photo: BH
�Christmas in Medieval England,� Blue Heron�s much-loved holiday offering, is back. After a six-year absence, artistic director Scott Metcalfe unveiled a new version of the program at First Church in Cambridge on Friday night.
The evening offered a type of liturgical overview of the season. Beginning with Advent and proceeding to Christmas Day by way of the Annunciation and Christmas Eve, its fare spanned the 13th� through the 15th-centuries, with a strong emphasis on music from the latter.
For stylistic variety alone, the night�s selections were bracing.
Leonel Power�s �Gloria,� caught the ear with lurching, Machaut-like harmonic turns as well as episodes of vigorous imitative counterpoint. The same composer�s antiphon �Ibo michi ad montem mirre� offered a somewhat more subdued view and was sung with dusky warmth by Kim Leeds, Jason McStoots, and Sumner Thompson.
Another antiphon��Alma redemptoris mater��stood out for its timbral richness, Leeds, Clare McNamara, and Sophie Michaux blending their voices with radiant warmth. The same group impressed with their snapping, shapely rendition of �Nowel! Owt of your slepe aryse� and, again, in the haunting, beautifully matched �Lolay lolay.�
The men of Blue Heron brought similar purity and tonal synthesis to bear on their items, opening the concert from the front of First Church�s darkened sanctuary with a distinguished account of the carol �Veni, veni Emanuel.�
Later on, �Veni, redemptor gencium� emerged boldly, its weighty drones anchoring the ensemble�s eminently secure projection of its flowing melodic lines. A similar strength of character also marked the night�s performances of �Dominus dixit ad me� and the plangent �Ave rex angelorum.�
The rest of the evening�s offerings involved some blend of mixed voices or voices with instrumental accompaniment.
Metcalfe, playing the harp, joined Leeds, McNamara, and Michael Barrett for a bright, graceful take on the lilting pairing of �Angelus ad virginem� and �Gabriel, fram Heven-King.� He was also on hand to accompany McNamara�s lilting solos in �Ave Maria I say� and Thompson�s energetic traversal of �Thys yol the beste red that y kan.�
Harpist and a vocal sextet tripped fetchingly through �Hayl Mary, ful of grace,� drawing out its gently biting dissonances along the way. Meanwhile, Metcalfe and a trio consisting of Michaux, Corey Hart, and Barrett warmly drew out the peculiar text settings of �Ther is no rose of swytch vertu.�
In �Auxce bon youre delabonestren� and the codas to �Ave Maria I say� and �Thys yol,� Laura Jeppesen and Charles Weaver joined Metcalfe to from a combo of, respectively, rebec (a gourd-like relative of the violin), lute, and harp. Though the rebec was out-of-balance with the other instruments, the trio imbued each work with limber style.
Otherwise, the evening�s numbers built in size, grandeur, and color as the concert moved towards its Christmas Day denouement.
Blue Heron�s account of Pycard�s �Gloria� was dispatched with dancing energy and shapely dynamics. As was an anonymous English �Sanctus,� whose flowing melismas and involved counterpoint were rendered with admirable textural clarity.
An impellent sense of direction marked both the �Agnus dei� from the Missa Veterem hominem�each of its phrases built to a nobly ringing peroration�and the ensemble�s lusty reading of �Nowel syng we bothe al and som.� The last brought a welcome dose of fun and festivity to the night, as did the concert�s closing number, a knowing, playful run-through of �Nova, nova! Ave fit ex Eva.�
The program will be repeated at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday at First Church in Cambridge. blueheron.org
