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The New Mexico Symphonic Chorus performs next Sunday at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. (Courtesy of normanjohnsonphoto.com)
Several of the pieces that will be performed during the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus performance next Sunday were presented in concert in 2002 and featured on the group’s 2002 recording “The Land of Song.” Music director and conductor Roger Melone thought it would be fun to sing them again after all these years.
“I particularly wanted to sing Alf Houkum’s work ‘The Red Pear Tree,’” said Melone. “So often, new music gets done once and that’s it.”
Houkum, a Corrales-based composer who also sings with the chorus, based the writing of “The Red Pear Tree” on a poem of the same name by Lucile Adler of Santa Fe. The music was written for a four-part chorus with piano accompaniment.
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If you go WHAT: The New Mexico Symphonic Chorus presents “A Choral Tapestry” WHEN: 3 p.m. Feb. 24 WHERE: National Hispanic Cultural Center Journal Theatre, 1701 Fourth SW HOW MUCH: Tickets $15-$50 at www.nmschorus.org or call 724-4771 |
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“When I asked Alf last spring if we could sing the piece again, he told me he was honored but that he wanted to make some revisions,” said Melone. “I guess he got carried away because the piece is definitely quite different from the original version. I’m actually beginning to like the new version better.”
Houkum said he started with the idea of making just a few changes. Several alterations turned into an entire rewriting of the work.
“I wanted greater flow in the piece and I also wanted to incorporate within it the changes I’ve made during the past 10 years in how I view composing,” said Houkum. “The piano part is much more difficult. I’m sure that the work of our current pianist Daniel Cummings, who started playing with the chorus last year, influenced how I wrote the piano part.”
“The Red Pear Tree” is one of more than a dozen pieces to be presented during “A Choral Tapestry,” which takes place on Feb. 24 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. The chorus also presents an arrangement of a short piece called “My Cat” by 10-year-old New Mexico composer Uttam Khalsa. In 2011 Khalsa participated in Hey, Mozart! New Mexico, a music composition project for children ages 12 and younger who live within the state.
“It’s a very simple piece that Brad Ellingboe arranged for four-part harmony,” said Melone. “I thought he did a very good arrangement of it.”
Works presented next Sunday that were last heard in 2002 are “Five Irish Folk Songs” for chorus and harp and two works by Brahms-Der Abend, Op. 64, No. 2 and O schöne Nacht, Op. 92, No. 1. New to the program are pieces by Byrd, Weelkes, Persichetti and Bruckner.
“I feel comfortable about mixing repertoire we sang years ago with works we have not performed in the past since the audience for classical choral music is relatively small and these choral works aren’t heard that often,” said Melone.
Some of the members of the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus have been singing with the group for more than a decade and remember the pieces they sang in 2002. Others are new to the group. Membership changes slightly, not dramatically, from year to year.
“I really get to know the voices and the brains of all the members of the chorus inside and out,” said Melone. “I definitely think the quality of the chorus has improved through the years.”
