Set against colorful frescos and ornate architecture, the Brown University Chorus performed Friday night in the Blessed Sacrament Church on Academy Avenue. Despite the church's chilly temperature, the event drew a sizeable crowd of eager parents, students and local residents, who sat bundled in their winter coats to hear the rich voices of Brown's roughly 60-member choir.
Conducted by Frederick Jodry, senior lecturer in music, the chorus performed pieces from a wide range of time periods and cultures, drawing from British, Argentinean and Italian composers.
"It's a real mix of music," Jodry told The Herald. The chorus' catalogue featured songs ranging from the 1550s to the 1970s. Most of the pieces, however, were unified by the theme of death, Jodry said.
The hour-long performance began with a series of short Latin refrains by Charles Villiers Stanford, a 19th-century composer, and Orlando di Lasso, who wrote during the Renaissance period. Using text taken mostly from psalms and Bible passages, the melodies were quick and jubilant. Led by Jodry's animated conducting, the chorus produced a warm, cohesive tone that echoed off the high wooden rafters of Blessed Sacrament.
The next piece, titled "Three Epitaphs: For the Tomb of Don Quixote," was written by a little-known composer the group discovered while touring Argentina last June. Rudolfo Halffter wrote separate epitaphs for three of Miguel de Cervantes' most famous characters: Don Quixote, Dulcinea and Sancho Panza.
Sung entirely in Spanish, the piece's mood varied widely. The arrangement focusing on Don Quixote had a victorious tone, while Dulcinea's piece dwelled in sorrow.
The second half of the program consisted entirely of "Requiem," by Ildebrando Pizzetti, another largely unknown composer. Jodry said a student recommended the piece to him while the group drove across Argentina, a trip that provided a chance for "lots of iPod time," he said.
"It's rare because it's both modern and Italian," he said of the piece, which was written in 1923. Written in five parts, "Requiem" focuses on the terror and reverence inspired by death. The eerie tone of its longest section, "Dies Irae" or "Day of Wrath," was enhanced by the concert's setting. Supported by a strong foundation of tenors and basses, the lofty soprano notes reverberated among the towering frescos of Jesus and his apostles.
The concluding segments of "Requiem" were more hopeful, particularly "Sanctus" and "Holy," a piece that joyfully celebrated the glory of God.
According to Jodry, this was the chorus' first performance at the Blessed Sacrament Church. Jodry recently discovered the venue while working with a small Providence-based Renaissance choir and called it "the most beautiful space in Providence" during the performance's introduction.
"Sayles (Hall) is fairly reverberant, but this felt like some of the Argentinean places," he told The Herald, adding that he tries to take the chorus off College Hill whenever possible.
Though the program debuted off campus, the chorus will perform this eclectic repertoire again at Sayles Hall Nov. 12.
