H.G.C. and R.C.S.

Friday's annual concert of the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society was a most ambitious program, worthy of the best professional choruses. It showed once again,--though proof is no longer needed--that these two groups, under the intelligent and stimulating direction of G. Wallace Woodworth, are leaders in American collegiate singing.

A small double-chorus opened the all-sacred program with a performance of Palestrina's Stabat Master. This work, one of the many settings of a medieval Latin poem attributed to Jacopone da Todi, is an excellent example of Palestrina's lucid polyphony. If the chorus's presentation was marred by an occasional uneasy entrance and by prominence of individual voices, it never fell into the pitfall of monotony which too often characterizes renditions of this type of music. Instead, the long vocal lines were moulded into a dynamically sound performance.

The Mass of the Holy Spirit, by Randall Thompson, recently completed, was a fitting number to follow the Palestrina. Professor Thompson's choral style, without surrendering its individuality, draws not a little inspiration from 16th Century polyphony. Written entirely for a capella chorus, the work is impressive in its construction, evidence of the composer's unquestioned versatility in contrapuntal writing. The chorus appeared quite at home with the piece and sang it admirably; the Gloria was particularly well done.

Another of Professor Thompson's works, the Familiar Alleluia, was performed following the award of a Harvard Glee Club medal to the composer. In his presentation Professor Wodworth spoke high praise of his colleague's contribution to the choral repertory, a tribute seconded by the warm appreciation of the audience.

The two numbers after intermission were as well received as their predecessors. Kodaly's Te Deum Laudamus, a massive composition demanding endurance as well as musicianship, was presented with the fervor it requires. Soloists Margaret Lapsley, Marcia Heintzelman, Franklin van Halsema, and Thomas Beveridge were impressive in both vocal quality and understanding interpretation. A brilliant accompaniment was supplied by pianists Jonathan Thackeray and Bernard Kreger. In equally excellent accompaniment by a brass choir from the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra highlighted the performance of Jubilate Deo, a robust sacred work by the 16th Century Venetian master Giovanni Gabrieli. The choice of this concluding work was a happy one, balancing the opening Palestrina work of the same period but of completely different style. For the student, the entire program was, in fact, an excellent lesson in the varieties of religious choral music. For the rest of the audience it was equally enjoyable, judging by the extended ovation given the chorus and its congenial conductor.