Summer Chorus at Tanglewood

Pressure was on the Harvard Summer School chorus even before it came into existence. Two weeks after try-outs the group was scheduled to visit the Boston Symphony Orchestra at its summer home in Tanglewood and perform Mozart Requiem in D minor.

For an established chorus, two weeks of rehearsal on a major composition such as the Requiem would be barely sufficient. For director Iva Dee Hiatt and the 114 members of the Summer School Chorus, accepting such an assignment was a courageous act.

The intensive rehearsal schedule the chorus maintained is strong evidence of its courage and enthusiasm. The performance at Tanglewood last Sunday, while demonstrating that courage and desire were not sufficient to overcome completely the problems of a student chorus working without enough rehearsal time, spoke almost as well for the musical ability of the group. Although depending upon the male voices too often, the chorus achieved good co-ordination with the soloists and the orchestra throughout most of the performance. It also had the strength to carry its harmonies against the powerful Boston Symphony.

After the performance, Symphony conductor Erich Leinsdorf said he was "entirely pleased with them. They have done a beautiful job." The capacity audience in the Tanglewood shed expressed its approval with a standing ovation.

The concert brought to a close a week of Mozart programs at Tanglewood. Mozart's final composition, the Requiem was not completed when the composer died in 1791, and had to be finished by his pupils. Leinsdorf dedicated the Sunday performance to the memory of Pope John XXIII, who, like Mozart, "was interrupted at the height of his powers."

The chorus performed its best on the fugues, particularly in the "Rex Tremendae," and during the powerful stanzas of "Dies irae," "Hostias," and "Sanctus." Unfortunately, the potentially powerful beginning of the "Rex Tremendae" was marred by the painfully discordant entrance of the soprano section.

One of the most dramatic points of the concert came in the "Dies irae." The chorus possessed excellent command of diction. They captured the tension of the great movement, bringing the audience to the climatic threshold which swells mightily and comes to an ahrupt stop. A simultaneous sigh from the audience was audible when the tension was released after the unfulfilled climax of the "Dies irae."

From the majesty of the "Dies irae" the music changed to the subdued strains of the "Tuba mirum," sung by the professional soloists Jeanette Scovotti, June Genovese, Walter Carringer, and George Hoffman. The chorus had some trouble going into this gentle mood at the beginning of the "Lacrimosa", but was highly inspiring when it reached the "Amen" at the end of the movement. While they did not retain this peak of grandeur on the "Domine Jesu" or in the fugue of the "Hostias," they recaptured it during the end of the "Hostias." The base was exceptionally superb during this part and during the following "Sanctus."

There was an excellent degree of co-ordination between the chorus, the conductor, and the orchestra during the last three movements, the "Sanctus," Benedictus," and "Agnus Doi." These three movements are rumored to be the compositions of Mozart's pupil, Franz Sussmayr, rather than of the master himself.

Many Difficulties

In addition to the prime handicap of time limitation, the summer school chorus had to overcome many other difficulties. Singing in an open shed required powerful voices and assurance of one's own part. To achieve this, Miss Hiatt asked the members to practice special breathing methods and mild calisthenics. The chorus also practiced singing while sitting in the audience section of Paine Hall. This simulated the accoustics of the Tanglewood shed, where sound is only projected outwards, making it almost impossible for the different sections of the chorus to hear each other. Some accoustical problems, however, could not be anticipated or prepared for. On the day of the concert, after three sunny rehearsal days at Tanglewood, the rains came. The sound of the droplets on the roof and the birds chirping outside the shed gave the chorus unexpected competition.

Despite the sacrifices required by the daily four hour practice sessions, members of the chorus seemed satisfied with the heavy expenditure of time. They reported that Miss Hiatt "conveyed a profound sense of the music" to the group. After hearing the chorus Conductor Leinsdorf declared Hiatt was a "miracle worker."

Although the chorus was only able to rehearse with Leinsdorf for three hours, the members found singing under his direction an "exhilarating" experience. Said one student, "He is a fine, clear, economical conductor. He knew exactly what he wanted from the chorus and how to get it from them."

The two initial weeks of the Chorus' existence were not entirely devoted to rehearsal, although most of it was spent in song. When not rehearsing, the members flocked together around guitars and recorders. Singing in busses, men's rooms, snack counters, and the lake shores of Tanglewood, they continually attracted attention.

This sort of thing would have continued far into the night had the group not been segregated, the boys being barracked in the Windsor Mountain School and the girls finding quarters at the Lenox School.

Even the ordeal of performance could not stop the constant singing. With the stimulus of beer the group recovered sufficiently to conclude the adventure with a rich, bawdy round of folk and college songs on the bus back to Cambridge.

Two more concerts are scheduled for the chorus. On August 9 the group will sing at the Castle Hill Music Festival. It returns home for a televised performance in Sanders Theatre on August 16.Listening at Tanglewood