This was no mere choral performance – this was a moving experience that vibrated through body and soul…..I am referring to The Song Company’s Burden of Truth, performed in the iconic Cell Block Theatre at the National Art School, Darlinghurst (Sydney).
Antony Pitts introduced a program which treats us to two world premieres, describing how the continuing repetition of refrains lead us through a changing landscape of emotion and how the structure of the program forms an overall arch. The program notes explain that the word ‘burden’, apart from meaning ‘load’ or ‘weight’, can also mean ‘chorus’ or ‘refrain’ in Medieval or Renaissance music.
The choral ensembles, comprising of The Song Company, students from the Conservatorium High School, members of Sydney Philharmonia VOX and The SongCo Chorale, began singing from behind the audience. They started with a traditional 19th century hymn by James Black: His Love Never Failed Me Yet, that reverberated from the sandstone walls. The choristers then processed to the front, grouping around the ’stage’, and began singing Robert Wylkynson’s melody Jesus autem transiens from the sixteenth century. This was followed seamlessly by William Byrd’s Ave verum corpus, a rich polyphonic work from the same era. The choristers continually repositioned themselves on the stage into different groups to give different vocal balances for the audience to hear. The effect was transporting as individual voices rang out from different parts of the stage.
Then there was silence, into which came the lone voice of a homeless old man singing a fragment of a poorly remembered hymn Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet over and over again. This was the recording Gavin Bryars used in a repeated loop, accompanied by evolving orchestral harmonies fifty years ago. He developed a new a cappella version for The Song Company, which was very moving. Their voices intertwined with the recording, while they moved around the stage and their exquisite harmonies evolved with each repetition, giving the effect constant change over the old man’s repeated refrain.
This transitioned into Transiens, based on Wylkynson’s melody we heard earlier and beautifully developed by Antony Pitts into a complex series of canons and harmonies and sung by twice the number of voices. This was written as a companion piece to Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, during an inspiring trip to Central Australia and Kakadu in 2020. The choristers still moved around as they sang, standing in a semi-circle at times, or in sections to form a triptych, where the central core sang the original canon, with the outer parts singing the twelve phrases sung by the Apostles to make up the Creed. This echoed Wylkynson’s work, where the choristers stood around in a circle and each singing a phrase of the Apostles’ Creed interspersed with the chant Jesus autem transiens (Jesus passing through them). They also reiterated the hymn fragment sung by the old man, thus completing the arch that Antony Pitts described in his introduction.
These vocal ensembles sang with exquisite perfection, transporting the listeners to ecstatic reveries as the music became increasingly complex and intense. When they finished, Antony Pitts held the silence and eventually turned around to face the audience to much earned applause. I heard several comments of ‘mesmerising’ from nearby audience members. A wonderful experience indeed!
Canberra residents are privileged to have a chance to hear the final performance of this beautiful concert on June 10.
Photo credit: Christopher Hayles photography
Images: Heidi Hereth
For more about The Song Company, including digital recordings of works performed in this concert visit their website
