January 20, 2017

  • Hillary Tan: New Choral Music with Old Connections

     Exultet Terra: Choral Music of Hilary Tann
    Cappella Clausura/Amelia LeClair
    Navona Records 6069
    Total Time:  63:54
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    Amelia LeClair founded Capella Clausura in 2004 as a means to help lift up the work of women composers.  In the present release, she has crafted a program that takes its inspiration from Hildegard von Bingen, one of the great voices of Medieval music.  Her striking music has inspired many composers including Hillary Tann whose work is featured here.  Tann’s music has an often gorgeous lyricism and her music takes its inspiration often from nature and poetry.

    Inspired by Hildegard of Bingen’s music, Tann crafted an extended work, Exultet Terra (2011/2015), that pulls together some of the aspects of mysticism scored for double chorus and a double reed quintet.  The five movement work is a significant piece of choral music running to over a half hour.  It is preceded by five pieces that essentially set the tone of the album.  “O Deus” from Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum was the main inspiration for many of the pieces on this album and it opens the disc.  The ancient music frames three of Tann’s pieces for a cappella women’s chorus: The Moor, Contemplations 8, 9; and Contemplations 21, 22.  Rex Noster Promptus Est adds male voices to bookend these pieces with another of Hildegard von Bingen’s works, arranged here by LeClair.  Each of Tann’s pieces captures this Middle Ages quality in use of mode and pure tone quality that is explored in these wide varying texts.  The words themselves tend to get lost though here from time to time with an emphasis more on the pure open quality of the music.

    Exultet Terra continues this rather unique modern twist on church modes with some slight modern brushstrokes and lyrical gestures that twist and turn a bit against these gorgeous open harmonic choral ideas.  The addition of reeds helps lend this music an equally ancient quality.  Also nice is the way the music has spots of almost dance-like rhythmic energy from time to time in contrast to the choral ideas.  As the piece continues, the harmony begins to add closer intervals and clusters to then open up in more traditional modern choral style, but always with a sensibility of its connection to ancient sounds.  The three choral movements are interrupted by two instrumental moments.  The first is a “Trio of Descent” for two oboes and English Horn.  It is a rather fascinating blending of these instruments exploring motifs and creating a rather stark atmosphere.  This makes the fuller choral sound stand out all the more in the “In Sanctis Eius” that follows.  The second “Trio of Ascent” includes an English Horn and two bassoons.  This also creates some rather intriguing colors.  At times, one can almost hear the ghosts of early 20th Century British choral music in the way harmony shifts about, but this is but one tool in Tann’s personal style.  The music connects well to its inspiration and makes for a rather engrossing half hour of truly gorgeous choral music with a deeply moving final movement.

    Navona’s recording allows for a real purity of sound here but one wishes for a bit more cathedral-like ambience.  Still, those who love exploring contemporary choral music will certainly want to pick up this album.