Music Reviews : Waverly Consort’s ‘Christmas Story’

This is the way to begin the Christmas season. At the time of year when ultra-familiar music is the norm, the New York-based Waverly Consort opened more than a few ears at El Camino College as it presented “The Christmas Story” on Wednesday.

The Consort’s “Christmas Story” draws from a number of Latin liturgical plays dating from the 10th to the 15th Centuries and is itself presented as a kind of liturgical drama. This drama is built around the Latin Mass, but a rich variety of sources is used, and early monophony is contrasted with the later polyphony.

Such mixing is entirely in keeping with late Medieval practice, according to Kenneth Ritchie, whose lucid essay is found in Waverly’s handsome program booklet. It certainly engendered no disunity here, for the story unfolded with directness and clarity.

The modern observer is expected to know what the Medieval observer knew--the basic story. (The English translation of the Latin, of course, is helpful to today’s listener.) Through Philip Minor’s skillful stage direction and the costumed participants’ economical but convincing acting, the Consort brought poignancy to the familiar story. The drama, as Ritchie points out, communicates on two levels: It not only relates the story of Christ’s birth, but in a symbolic way adumbrates the Easter story (the Slaughter of the Innocents, for example, being an allegory for the Crucifixion).

It was the musical performance, though, that really made this evening memorable. Music director Michael Jaffee and his 12 colleagues combined scholarly authenticity with movingly vital performances. Vocal purity, accuracy of pitch and flawless blend characterized the Consort’s singing, and the ensemble remained rhythmically secure without the benefit of a conductor.

Some of the singers doubled as instrumentalists and performed with admirable skill, if not absolute perfection, on nearly two dozen instruments, from the shawm and slide trumpet to the citole and nun’s fiddle.