小光葛格

寄件者 For Blog Only

本來以為公司要去德國參加CeBit展，
所以沒能參與這次的音樂會，
但意外的德國行取消，
只好乖乖的回來唱這場囉，。


結束了十場的文藝復興大師系列音樂會，
瑞福吉來到了巴羅克時代，
這個時代的大師，
除了巴赫（J.S. Bach）絕對不做第二人想，
當然他的作品也是合唱團會極盡全力去挑戰的。


這是瑞福吉的第二場Bach的音樂會，
演唱的曲目是：

過完年了，來聽聽另外一首合唱經典。


阿萊格里 (Gregorio Allegri, 1582 - 1652)，
義大利作曲家，
師事於之前提到的文藝復興大師，
Palestrina的好友，
Giovanni Maria Nanini。
他授職於Fermo的大教堂，完成了許多作品，
受到當時的教皇Pope Urban八世注目，
於梵蒂崗的西斯汀禮拜堂 (Sistine Chapel) 任職。


在Wiki上查到他的作品很多，

第二首我鍾情的合唱作品，
是文藝復興大師帕勒斯提納
(Giovanni Pierluigi da Plaestrina,
1525-1592)，
所做的《聖母悼歌》 (Stabat Mater)。


Palestrina作曲數量龐大，
包括了104首彌撒 (masses)、
68首奉獻詩歌 (offertories)、
250首經文歌 (motets)、
45首詩歌 (hymms/psalms)、
33首聖母讚主曲 (magnificats)、
4或5首 lamentations（註一）、

今天起，改走冷門路線，
（謎之聲：這裡熱門過嗎？）
讓大家聽聽我最愛的三首合唱曲。


第一首，
承繼了上一篇介紹丹麥的好電影《Reconstruction》，
所提Barber（1910-1981）所做的弦樂曲
《Adagio for Strings》，
之後以同曲調改為合唱曲《羔羊經》（Agnus Dei），
這首曲子連同Allegri: 《垂憐經》（Miserere），
以及Palestrina: 《聖母悼歌》（Stabat Mater），
並列我的最愛。

換個口味，聽聽輕鬆的合唱曲。


今年國際合唱節有許多好的團體來台演出，
而台灣部份的伴演團體中，
也令人驚豔的出現了一個《歐開歌手》，
但整體而言，我聽到了最瞠目咭舌的，
還是屬於 Coco's Lunch。


近年來，合唱世界吹起了一陣A cappella風，
這個字根為 A (non) + cappella (music)，
意為沒有樂器伴奏的音樂，那自然的就是純人聲音樂，
不過主要還是在教堂裡的音樂（註一）。

最近，應Pony邀約，去幫忙唱一場音樂會，
由樂興之時主辦
『江靖波和黃海倫的莫札特』。
下半場的莫札特安魂曲(Mozart: Requiem Mass)，
由科學園區合唱團、慕音合唱團以及清華大學合唱團連合演出。

由於在諾大的國家音樂廳演出，
加上男低音的稀少（註一），所以便邀我去幫忙。

而這場音樂會順利結束，再次確定了我討厭唱音樂會這件事，
此外，還有兩個有趣的小想法。

首先，參與演出的合唱團員的普遍程度並沒有非常好，
其中不乏許多第一次上台演出的團員，
也有很多低年級的清大學生，因此原本預料效果會有限。

以一個愛唱合唱的人而言，尤其是對熱愛文藝復興的宗教音樂的人，
一提到幾個作曲家（註一）就應該會束起耳朵，展現出無比的喜悅，
其中一位便是William Byrd。

這次的Byrd五聲部彌撒是一個相當吸引人的曲目，不過整個音樂會最奇特的地方在於，
敝團的吳大指揮要我們回到當時，使用當時的英文以及拉丁文的發音法。

如同古代中國的語言，經過時間演化，加上和所謂『蠻族』的繞舌，
而變成了現在的國語（或者大陸的普通化），
古時候的英文，曾經有過幾次的變革，在發音的表現上，
和現在我們所熟稔的系統已經有著不小的差距。

所以，這場音樂會可以聽到很有趣的腔調和咬字，出現在大家所熟悉的文字上，

由於可惡的指揮吳尚倫老師隨便在msn上扔下一句話，叫我今晚寫出曲目介紹，要趕著申請國家音樂廳演奏廳的場地，而我又是無敵尊師重道，敬重學長的好孩子，害得我只能熬夜趕稿，從我的CD架上，找出了Tallis Scholars演唱過的CD，然後卑鄙的把解說看完，生出了以下這篇。

It's the last concert I joined in this Taipei Internation Chorus Festival. Finally, there is a traditional-style chorus in the festival. That doesn't mean these popular a cappella group -- hmm... actually, most of works that the Winnipeg Singers presented are a cappella works, but they are totally from the other groups that added dancing and funny amusing music to give concerts more attractiveness -- is not welcome to me or not qualified, and they have different style and wonderful presentation.

I am delighted to hear their performance. They easily gave harmony and nice voices in these complicated works. Maybe sometimes their sopranos bursted out some not-well-controlled voice, but generally speaking their performances were still very good and worthy our applause.

Here are the introductions of the Winnipeg Singers and their conductor Yuri Klaz. All of these including the photo are cited from the Taipei Philharmonic Fundation.

The Winnipeg Singers

The Winnipeg Singers, Winnipeg’s premiere choir, has long been regarded as one of Canada’s finest choral ensembles. The Winnipeg Singers consists of 24 trained voices, performing music that spans the times from the Renaissance to the present. The choir’s mandate is to make a diversity of choral music, performed to the highest standards, accessible to a growing audience. Each year the choir commissions new Canadian works and premieres other new works for its Manitoba audience. It presents a concert series each year, engaging some of North America’s finest musicians as guests. The Winnipeg Singers have performed joint concerts with such diverse organizations as MusikBarock Ensemble, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, and Les Danseurs de la Riviere Rouge. The Singers regularly appear as guests of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and have given concerts and workshops for local social agencies, business firms and high schools.

The Winnipeg Singers can trace its origins to a choir begun in the 1930s by composer and voice teacher W. H. Anderson for radio broadcast on the CBC. His choir, known as the Choristers, performed secular music and on occasion offered public concerts. Filmer Hubble, who conducted the group for a national weekly CBC radio broadcast of sacred music called Sunday Chorale succeeded Anderson in the 1950s and ‘60s. This choir also performed a series of yearly concerts. He was succeeded by a student of W. H. Anderson, Herbert Belyea, also a composer and voice teacher. In the early 1970s, William Baerg was asked by the CBC to form a group of singers which would perform concert broadcasts. This choir, the CBC Winnipeg Singers, was devoted to the exploration of both sacred and secular works from all eras and initiated the form of The Winnipeg Singers as it exists today. In 1973, when the CBC was no longer able to support the choir, The Winnipeg Singers began to produce its own annual concert series, which it has done ever since. Past artistic directors of The Winnipeg Singers include Bill Baerg, John Martens, Wayne Riddell, Mel Braun, Vic Pankratz and Rudy Schellenberg. The current Artistic Director, Yuri Klaz, began his tenure with the 2003/2004 Season.

The Winnipeg Singers are regularly heard on local and national CBC radio. They have released two compact disc recordings, O Praise Ye the Lord and Prairie Voices. The Canada Council with the awarding of the Healey Willan prize has twice recognized The Winnipeg Singers for their excellence in choral music. The Winnipeg Singers performed at the Toronto International Choral Festival in June 2002. The choir was one of three choirs invited to perform at the Gala Concert of Podium 2004, the national biennial convention of the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors held in Winnipeg in May. The Winnipeg Singers have been honoured by an invitation from the International Federation for Choral Music to perform at the 7th World Symposium on Choral Music to be held in Kyoto, Japan in July 2005.

Yuri Klaz

Born in Petrozavodsk, Russia, Yuri received his Masters degree in conducting at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. He was an associate professor of choral and orchestral conducting at the Petrozavodsk Conservatory and later became the artistic director and conductor of the Chamber Choir of the Karelian Art Centre.

In 1995, Yuri was awarded the prestigious title, “Honoured Artist of Russia”, and received a silver medal for exceptional achievement in the development of art in Russia. Mr. Klaz came to Canada in 2000 to become the artistic director and conductor of the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir. Most recently Yuri conducted The Winnipeg Singers, the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir and Renaissance Voices in performances of Bach, Verdi and Faure with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Klaz also directs the First Mennonite Church Choir, the ShaareyZedek Synagogue Choir, and the University of Winnipeg Student Choir. He is a faculty member of the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts. Mr. Klaz was appointed the artistic director and conductor of The Winnipeg Singers on July 1st 2003.

 

Another a cappella group but a little different from the Real group and Rajaton. It is composed of 32 singers and a conductor, not like the Real group or Rajaton that owns less than ten members. Therefore, their performances had more multi-layer variety. Not only rythm, their companiment supported sweet harmony as well as abundant sound effects. I think the only pity in their performances was their speaker was too louder to make the subject be inundated. In fact, I sat in the 4th floor but still got ears hurt because the loud sounds sometimes. As 炫超 said, he almost cannot hear any good voice but noise because he sat in the 2nd floor. Ha, ha, ha... it's so lucky to me that I didn't change the seat from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor since they didn't have break time after I went getting into. Such a nice luck I owned. XD

Here is the introductions of the Vocal Line and their conductor, and they are cited from Taipei Philharmonic Fundation, as well as the photo.

Vocal Line
Vocal Line is a modern a cappella choir boasting 32 singers, directed by Jens Johansen.

The choir was formed in 1991 inAarhus, Denmark and our goal is to be trendsetters in the development of contemporary a cappella music on a national as well as an international level. Over the years, we have continuously sought to expand the limits of a cappella singing, and we aim to keep improving our art.

We concentrate almost exclusively on new compositions and new arrangements. Although deeply rooted in the Danish choir tradition, we have developed a personal style and sound, which can be characterized as a mixture of pop, rock, jazz, world, and classical avantgarde.

With this highly original take on modern a cappella as it is presented at the beginning of the new millennium, it is safe to say that nobody sounds quite like Vocal Line!

Vocal Line is known throughout the Danish and European choir community, has won a number of international awards and prizes, and stands as a role model for choirs and conductors across the country and internationally. As one of the “foremost choirs of Europe” Vocal Line has recently received an invitation for the 7th World Choral Symposium in Kyoto, Japan in 2005. Vocal Line has decided to give two performances "Take-off: Taiwan-Japan Tour 2005" in May in our hometown of Aarhus.

Jens Johansen, Conductor
The conductor and musical director of Vocal Line is Jens Johansen (b. 1952). Vocal Line was formed in January 1991 by Jens Johansen, who has conducted the choir in a dedicated and energetic manner ever since. Besides conducting, he also finds time to arrange new songs.

He is employed as an assistant professor at Musikvidenskabeligt Institut, Aarhus Universitet (the Musicology Department at the University of Aarhus), where his lectures include "Arranging for Pop/Rock Choir", "Conducting Contemporary Choir " and "Music Theory and Analysis".

In addition, he also teaches "Conducting Contemporary Choir" at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. He has recently completed a research project on "Part-singing in Pop/Rock Music", in which Vocal Line plays an important part.

Jens Johansen has given lectures at various seminars and acted as conductor at a number of choir festivals in Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Germany and Hungary. Over the past 20 years, he has published numerous choir arrangements and compositions that are performed by a wide array of choir singers all over Europe.

On top of this, he is a board member on the committee of the choir organization KOR72 as well as on the committee of Danske Korledere (Danish Choir Conductors). In these capacities, he helps organize seminars, workshops and choir contests to the benefit of Danish choir singers and conductors.

It's amazing that the choir is pure a university choir, not a society choir or a professional choir, so, how do they own such good voice and well-trained skills?

As my expectation, their famous performance was in the bottom half part with traditional choral music accompanied by the brilliant dances. Maybe we could kid that they are close to a variety entertainment group. However, their gorgeous body performance doesn't imply that they don't have talent at music. In the up half part, they represented very difficult 20-centry compositions including the Five Flower Song. They can easily handle the irregular rhythm and discordant interval. Even those compositions are not my favorites, I still enjoy their amazing performance.

The followings are the introductions to this choir and their conductor, and they are cited from the Taipei Philharmonic Fundation, as well as the photo.

Parahyangan Catholic University Choir, Indonesia

Parahyangan Catholic University Choir (UNPAR Choir) is a professional music institution existed since 1962. After the national achievements, UNPAR Choir kept on achieving until international was in Holland Competition in 1995, in Italy 1997, in Linz Austria 2000, and lastly in The 8th International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf Germany, 2003.

Until recently, UNPAR Choir has not only gaining more and more achievements, but has also secured its place to declare itself as the barometer for choir development in Indonesia. For the achievements in the International level and their consistency in growing choral music nationally and has proven internationally, they now become one of the best choir in the world.

UNPAR Choir tends to bring a new perspective to the classical music, make it possible to enjoy by all level of society.

Avip Priatna, Conductor

The first concert in the chorus festival this year.

Rajaton, Finland, owns the charming characteristic that is similar to the most famous a cappella group -- the Real Group. Rajaton represents their music with a theme from a singer and with the accompaniment of the others. The singers sing simple harmony or rythm under a bright and sweet theme. Not only that, they are as good as the Real Group to make sound effects by the collocation of they excellent voice skill, microphones and speakers.

Their performance is absolutely worthy all audiences's stand ovation. However, it's not surprising to me, I expect they are such a wonderful group in the beginning. In fact, the most astonishment to me is the performance of the domestic joint group, Xinxiang Bunun Children's Chorus. It's definitely hard to believe, a 20-children chorus gave me a shocking and beautiful harmony to start the concert. Clear and limpid voices seem to resound across the skies. They don't have the general flaw as other children choirs, not effective to control their voices. Even the processing of songs is a little bit monotonous, their impressive performance is no doubt to deserve our 3-minute applause -- it's pitty we cannot do it. Futhermore, don't forget that they come from a faraway mountain side that the supports of education are not enough as that in cities.

The following part is the introduction of Rajaton cited from the website of Taipei Philharmony Foundation:

The voice is boundless

Countless vocal groups around the world sing Christmas songs and evergreens. Some a cappella groups base their approach on jazz, some on classical choral music, while others go for a more straight-forward pop sound. Other groups specialize in spiritual music. A few even sing original material.

And then there is a unique group that does all of the above. It's called Rajaton. The Finnish word Rajaton translates as "boundless" - and that's precisely the right word to describe the way this vocal ensemble approaches music.

The six-piece a cappella group has performed around the world at concert halls, churches, and jazz festivals, singing everything from spiritual music to pop hits. In fact, it's hard to imagine an audience that Rajaton could not reach with its music, or a type of music Rajaton could not make its own.

Founded in Helsinki in 1997, Rajaton consists of Essi Wuorela (soprano), Virpi Moskari (soprano), Soila Sariola (alto), Jussi Chydenius (bass), Hannu Lepola (tenor), and Ahti Paunu (baritone). All members have vastly different musical backgrounds, ranging from classical to folk, pop, and rock.