By Edward E. Jones
November is a time of remembrance and reflection in the Memorial Church, and in that spirit I look back on a very busy and successful two months for our music department, while looking forward to the many musical offerings in the coming months.
At the start of the Fall Term we welcomed Thomas Sheehan to the staff of the Memorial Church as Assistant University Organist and Choirmaster. Prior to his appointment, Tom served on the music staff of Saint Mark’s Church in Philadelphia, and Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton, New Jersey; he is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, and Westminster Choir College. Tom has already become a valued member of our staff, and wowed congregation and choir alike with his postlude on Freshman Sunday — a thrilling rendition of Langlais’s Fête, from memory! I am thoroughly enjoying our work together: a wonderful all-round musician, Tom is not only a superb organist, but a harpsichordist, pianist, and conductor too.
The Harvard University Choir returned to St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire, at the start of October for its annual retreat, which ended with evensong in the school’s beautiful chapel, featuring music by Howells and Bainton. The following afternoon, we welcomed the St. Paul’s choir to Harvard and repeated the service in Appleton Chapel to an enthusiastic congregation.
On Sunday, October 12, we celebrated the official installation of the Reverend Dr. Lucy Forster-Smith as Senior Minister in the Memorial Church and Sedgwick Chaplain to the University. The music included the world premiere of Composer-in-Residence Carson Cooman’s The Guest House, on a text chosen by Dr. Forster-Smith, as well as works by two famous Minnesota composers with connections to Lucy: Libby Larsen and Stephen Paulus. The following Sunday, Stephen Paulus -— who had been in a coma since July 2013 — passed away: the memory of that performance of his stirring Pilgrims’ Hymn will remain with me for a long time.
The main highlight of the Spring Term was a performance of C. P. E. Bach’s Die Israeliten in der Wüste, in celebration of the composer’s 300th anniversary; similarly, on Sunday, October 19, the Harvard University Choir and the period orchestra Grand Harmonie gave a concert performance of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s seminal opera Orfeo ed Euridice, honoring his 300th anniversary. It was a wonderful afternoon, and the Memorial Church was filled with an audience of nearly 400 for this free presentation. The soloists — Julia Mintzer, Amanda Forsythe, and Margot Rood — gave compelling performances, as did the choir in all their various guises, but particularly as the infernal spirits of the work’s thrilling second act. This concert, too, will soon be available to watch online through the church website, where archived audio content can be found, and where you can also sign up to join our main mailing list. In addition, the choir’s latest CD, Spring Bursts Today: A Celebration of Eastertide, is available to download for free.
Our Sunday and daily services have been filled with a wide variety of repertoire, including Bernstein’s “Urah, hanevel” from the Chichester Psalms, Weelkes’s O Lord Arise, Schubert’s Mass in G Major, and Bach’s fifth motet, Komm, Jesu, komm. To commemorate the Feast of All Saints and All Souls, the choir presented selections from Fauré’s Requiem on November 2, and on November 9, it offered works by Parry and Vaughan Williams during the Commemoration of Benefactors and War Dead service, which this year marked the centenary of the outbreak of World War I. On Sunday, November 16, the Choral Fellows participated in the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra’s fall concert with a performance of Johann Christoph Bach’s remarkable wedding dialogue “Meine Freundin, du bist Schön.” The choir is busy preparing for the 105th annual Christmas Carol services (on Sunday, December 14 at 5:00 p.m., and Monday, December 15 at 8:00 p.m.) which include a commission from uchoir alum Ronald Perera to a text of Longfellow; WHRB will broadcast and stream Sunday’s service live.
The 2014–15 organ recital series is off to a wonderful start: Tom Sheehan gave the inaugural recital, which featured Reubke’s majestic setting of the ninety-fourth psalm. On Sunday, September 21, the Memorial Church hosted a benefit recital, given by the distinguished recitalist and pedagogue William Porter, to raise support for the restoration of Skinner Op. 708 in the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont. Connections between our two institutions are many, and long-established — including the tenure of the third University Organist and Choirmaster Archibald T. Davison (“Doc” Davison) as organist of All Saints from 1906—1910. I am delighted to announce that the afternoon’s efforts raised the requisite amount of money, and I am excited to see — and hear — the results in the coming months in Ashmont.
Next Term will be a particularly busy one for the Harvard University Choir. In January, the group will embark on a mini-tour of New York City (January 22), New Haven (January 23), and Worcester MA (January 24) before participating in workshops and masterclasses with Sir John Eliot Gardiner during his residency at Harvard. Building on the success of the uchoir reunion in the fall of 2012, we will be hosting another reunion in March 2015; the spring concert will be an ARTS FIRST presentation of Handel’s majestic oratorio Athalia, featuring internationally acclaimed soprano Dominique Labelle in the title role, and the Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra.
It continues to be a privilege to serve in the Memorial Church under the inspiring leadership of Professor Jonathan L. Walton, and to work with such wonderful colleagues and students. On Christmas Eve, our 5:00 p.m. worship service will feature a choir of uchoir alums and community members: if you would like to sing on that festive occasion please show up at 3:30 p.m. in the choir room for a brief rehearsal. In closing I wish you a very happy holiday season, and I look forward to seeing many of you in Cambridge soon — if not on Christmas Eve, then hopefully in the new year.