At the height of the Great Depression, American songwriters George and Ira Gershwin audaciously looked beyond dollars for hope in “Who cares?”
Let it rain and thunder;
Let a million firms go under;
I am not concerned with
Stocks and bonds that I’ve been burned with.
In the face of the current economic downturn, Chicago a cappella shares the Gershwins’ sunny disposition. To the naysayers and doom-mongers, this polished group of nine singers touts a sense of musical abundance to lift heavy spirits.
Artistic director Jonathan Miller had worked with music director Patrick Sinozich on the theme for this weekend’s concert more than a year before Wall Street headed into a tailspin. Without knowing the future, he pulled together a program of eclectic choral music to celebrate what we do have in abundance.
For those who want to know why Chicago a cappella is singing about abundance, and why they’re doing it now, Miller says looking on the positive is just what the nation ought to do.
“The human spirit still has plenty of potential to share abundance, even when times are hard,” he observed. “Perhaps we need to do that even more in such times.”
“Abundance” offers choral works by some of America’s most respected composers. Gwyneth Walker, for instance, has avoided the limelight in central Vermont, but still won recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Choral Directors’ Association. Miller has long respected her work and recorded some of it on the latest Chicago a cappella CD (Cedille Records, 2008). He was hooked when he heard “God’s Grandeur,” set to poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins. One of the few who manage to compose full-time, Walker’s lovely musical palette is an appealing mix of traditional poetry and modern harmonies.
Also on the program is the premiere of a work Miller composed for the ensemble he founded 15 years ago. Under his leadership, Chicago a cappella has become a noteworthy presence on the American choral scene, with tours to 11 states and Mexico, plus seven CDs to their name. They have commissioned and premiered works by nearly all of today’s pre-eminent composers, but not so often works from their own director.
“I only write when a poem really gets planted inside my mind, and I’m prompted to want to make music out of it,” Miller explains.
“Half Asleep in Prayer” is set to poetry by Mark Jarman. Miller was attracted to the “Unholy Sonnets” in Jarman’s book, Questions for Ecclesiastes, winner of the 1998 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize.
“What I liked in the poetry was the struggle with essential issues of faith and doubt and skepticism,” he notes. “And sometimes you reach a state of grace where everything settles, and you want to capture that feeling.”
Miller said he took Jarman’s lead. “I just got on the wave and surfed it. That’s the great thing about working with great poetry.”
For people feeling loss or despair, music can be an elixir. Miller feels that way about Chen Yi’s “The Lake,” a serene setting of an ancient Chinese poem, which the ensemble commissioned in 2003.
“Chen Yi has a brilliant talent for putting together sounds. In some places the voices weave in and out, just like ripples on a lake. I selected this piece for its soothing effects. The opening chords paint a placid tone and the singers are doing it so well. They are such a reliable group of musicians when it comes to getting exactly what I want to get.” All this, and they’ll do it in Chinese, too.
For the “Who cares?” crowd, not every song will be contemplative and inspiring. Miller promises some high-energy fun and humor too. Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s “El Hambo,” a Swedish folk dance, is rife with nonsense syllables. Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” has been arranged for voices by the Swedish jazz choir The Real Group. If you think the drum tracks will go wanting, you haven’t heard Chicago a cappella. These humans can imitate percussion instruments with astonishing authenticity. More American popular music is taken from Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” a jazz-inspired spiritual from the instrumental suite Black, Brown, and Beige.
In spite of the economic downturn, Miller lives out his belief in the power of music. “I think when times get tough and people are fearful, that’s when we need the arts most. We have an abundance of joy to feed our souls even now.”
When she is not out enjoying live concerts of great music, Dr. Cathryn Wilkinson chairs the music department at Aurora University and presides over the mighty Casavant pipe organ at First United Church of Oak Park.