MUSIC REVIEW : Anonymous Four Find Perfect Venue

Site and sound merged sublimely when the acclaimed a cappella group Anonymous Four brought a glorious program of 13th- and 14th-Century vocal music to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, as part of the Chamber Music in Historic Sites series. Whatever the innate luster of the group’s “English Ladymass,” hearing it in a complementary venue Sunday did wonders to enhance its character.

This extravagant Gothic Revival edifice, towering above its Lake Street neighbors, supports a pleasant illusion of antiquity--a highly relative term in Southern California. But even if this 1928 structure is roughly 600 years younger than the music heard here, its sound-expanding, high vaulting ceilings and blend of architectural severity and opulence suited the music beautifully.

For the Anonymous Four, currently ensemble-in-residence at St. Michael’s Church in New York City, anonymity amounts to a noble aspiration, as per the medieval liturgical practice. While the singers--Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genesky, Susan Hellauer and Johanna Rose--create a seamless collective blend and move and breathe as one, they also possess distinct traits of timbre and expression. The group’s ascendance, via high ranking on the classical charts, plus generous media exposure, speaks well of their finely honed virtues, sonic purity and sense of purpose.

Among the highlights in the program, sponsored by the Da Camera Society of Mount St. Mary’s College, were the “Kyrie: Kyria Christifera,” with its enchanting, tautly navigated ornamentation, and the lively flow of the round on “Rota: Munda Maria.” A particularly dark, arid passion suffused “Sequence/Song: Jesu Cristes mile moder.” The piece, concerning the Virgin’s lament upon Christ’s death, is a sorrow-drenched duet in which pitches at close range weave and converge.

On this afternoon, everything seemed to work. A consummate performance was delivered in a congenial setting, sans interruption of intermission or applause. Religious aspects aside, an air of communion took over the chapel and a profound effect, so it seemed, was felt by all.