CalArts Concert Will Offer Stravinsky’s Devout Contemplation in ‘Symphony of Psalms’

Think of holiday music and the first reaction is probably something that’s noisy and jubilant: a brass choir playing Christmas carols or Handel’s “Messiah” performed by a large orchestra, a pipe organ with all the stops pulled out and a chorus of hundreds.

But if you’re Paul Vorwerk, the choral music conductor at CalArts, you think of Igor Stravinsky’s “Symphony of Psalms,” an introspective work that, although acknowledged as one of the great works of the 20th Century, treats its religious subject with what has been called devout contemplation.

Vorwerk said the concert, to be given Dec. 10 in the CalArts Main Gallery, is “for people who want relief from the Christmas music you hear in dentists’ offices and elevators.”

The concert, performed by the New CalArts 20th Century Players, CalArts Chorus and CalArts Chamber Singers, will also feature works by Carlo Gesualdo, whose musical experiments during the Renaissance still challenge modern ears, as well as works by the Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez and the German Baroque composer Heinrich Schuetz.

Vorwerk, who worked on several recordings conducted by Stravinsky, said he chose the “Symphony of Psalms” in part because Stravinsky intended it to be quite ecumenical. “For one thing, the text is taken from Psalms, so there’s an appeal to a wider range of people than something from just the New Testament,” he said. “It’s not Christmas per se.

“There are some very exciting rhythmic sections,” he said. “But some paradoxical passages. Where most composers would be loud and jubilant, it’s more reflective in tone.”

He was quick to point out that the work is centered in conventional tonality, unlike some later Stravinsky works that use a 12-tone technique.

“The audience may have more trouble with the Gesualdo,” he said, citing a rapid key change from C-sharp major to D minor in three measures. “It destroys all sense of tonality,” Vorwerk said. But he added that voice leading, the harmonic rules that governed music in that era, makes perfect sense.

Another work on the program, “Ilumina Nos,” is actually Stravinsky’s version of a Gesualdo composition. In the Renaissance, musical works existed not in full scores, as they do today, but in separate part books. In the case of the seven-part “Ilumina Nos,” Stravinsky wrote the two missing parts, completing the work in his own style. Vorwerk said, “He doesn’t do anything that Gesualdo might not have done, but it has a Stravinsky sound.”

He added, “Stravinsky felt that if music history had followed the example of Gesualdo instead of Monteverdi, music would be in a more interesting place.”

The concert will be given at 8 p.m. Dec. 10 at CalArts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia. Free.

In keeping with the holiday theme, Noreen Green will conduct the CSUN Women’s Chorale in Persichetti’s “Winter Cantata” on Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall at Cal State Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St. Tickets are $5, $2 for senior citizens and students.

And for those who look forward to singing some of Handel’s great choruses, John Alexander will conduct the annual “Messiah Sing-Along” with the Valley Master Chorale, orchestra and soloists at 3 p.m. Dec. 17 at Burroughs High School, 1920 Clark Ave., Burbank. Tickets are $10 and $7.50. Copies of the score will be on sale.

CSUN will have its second “Dickens Christmas Feast” Dec. 16 to 20 and Dec. 22 (GET TIME) at the Student Union. The dinner program features characters drawn from Charles Dickens’ novels who gather at a country inn during a snowstorm. Tickets are $x.

One of the month’s more unusual performances will be “Art and Soul: a Concert With Seven of North America’s Greatest Cantors” Dec. 16 and 17 at the University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive. The performances feature Hazzans David Bagley, Louis Danto, Isaac Goodfriend, Nathan Lam, Abraham Lubin, Jacob Mendelson and Alberto Mizrabi with the Kol Echad Chorale conducted by Alan Weiner. Performances are at 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 16 and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 17. Tickets are $18 and $12.50.

Also at the University of Judaism, pianist Sharon Nomi, 14, will give a recital at 11 a.m. Dec. 12 in the Young Artist Concert Series. Tickets are $10.

CalArts’ “Masterworks of American Chamber Music” will conclude tonight at 8 with Paul Vorwerk conducting the New CalArts 20th Century Players in works by Aaron Copland, Henry Cowell, Virgil Thomson and Roger Sessions, featuring Samuel Barber’s “Agnus Dei,” a 1967 arrangement of the well-known “Adagio for Strings” for chorus and organ. The concert is at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, 2437 Main Street. Tickets are $8 and $4. Mel Powell will give a lecture at 7 p.m., before the concert.

Also today, the CSUN New Music Ensemble will perform at 3 p.m. in the Recital Hall. Tickets are $5 and $2.

Dec. 9 at 8 p.m., John Bergamo will conduct the Low Budget CalArts Percussion Ensemble in the Roy O. Disney Music Hall.