Luminatus: Harmonies of Heaven and Earth
Downing Place United Reformed Church, Cambridge - 28/10/23
Luminatus, vocal ensemble | David Bray, conductor
Cipriano de Rore (1515-1565) Ad te levavi oculos meos
Philippe de Monte (1521-1603) Kyrie Missa Ad te levavi oculos meos
Pedro de Cristo (1545-1618) O Magnum Mysterium
Philippe de Monte (1521-1603) Gloria Missa Ad te levavi oculos meos
Ippolito Baccusi (1550-1609) Salve regina
Philippe de Monte (1521-1603) Benedictus and Sanctus Missa Ad te levavi oculos meos
Sebastian de Vivanco (1551-1622) O Domine Jesu Christe
Philippe de Monte (1521-1603) Agnus Dei Missa Ad te levavi oculos meos
Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) ‘O Lord arise’
William Byrd (1540-1623) Ave Maria
Melissa Dunphy (b1980) Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for St Paul’s Burlingame
Ghislaine Reece-Trapp (b1992) ‘Mass for the mystery of faith’
Eleanor Daley (b1955) ‘O ye who taste that love is sweet’
Luminatus choir stage a warmhearted reading of Renaissance and Contemporary repertoire to an intimate audience gathered in Cambridge.
Of the United Kingdom’s choral hubs, there is perhaps no city greater than Cambridge in which to sing. Like all the town’s great halls, Downing Place United Reformed Church’s cavernous ceiling and wood-paneled walls give the impression of being veritably stained in music through pervasive choral exposure: though, most likely not with the works programmed by Choir Director, David Bray. The choir’s mission statement is to perform early music and contemporary works seldom heard in concert today, and so one can reasonably expect tonight’s unique programme to add another coat to the musical paint job awash the church’s interior.
The first half saw the 16-strong choir meander through Philippe de Monte’s Missa Ad te levavi oculos meos, interspersed with liturgical offerings from other obscure sixteenth-century composers. The singers flowed through a labyrinth of entangled phrases with poise and warmth, gently encouraged by conductor Bray. Music of this period is a notorious musical mountain: a marathon, not a sprint. Yet, the choir resisted the temptation – normally veiled under murmurs of ‘authenticity’ – to simply paint by numbers and sing ‘as read’. Instead, the grand structure of the elongated phrases were shaped with care and sensitivity, swelling and receding as voices amalgamated and dispersed. There was some particularly fine bass and alto singing in this repertoire, infamous for its frighteningly low registers, which anchored the choir and allowed the florid soprani and (endearingly charismatic) tenors to shine. At the ends of these gargantuan phrases, one might have preferred the silence between them to be relished a little more, thus allowing the audience, never mind the choir, to breathe. The late great Bernard Haitink famously remarked: “Conducting is sorting the air”. At times it felt as though the air needed a trifle longer to settle in the resonant acoustic before the next journey began.
The second half commemorated the 400th anniversary of the deaths of Thomas Weelkes and William Byrd with sensitive readings of Lord Arise and the ever-compelling Alleluia, Ave Maria. The audience could be forgiven for anticipating a musical juxtaposition between the sixteenth-century serenity and the relatively unknown contemporary female composers, yet Bray’s considered construction of the repertoire blended the two idioms seamlessly. The trio of twenty-first century works by Melissa Dunphy, Ghislaine Reece-Trapp and Eleanor Daley were rooted in the renaissance choral style, but stretched the boundaries of harmony, rhythm and text to regions far beyond where Byrd and Weelkes would have ventured. The choir appeared to have a second wind here and savored the crunchy harmonies, changeable tempi, and the opportunities (for some) to display their soloistic prowess.
A haunting, possibly too haunting, encore saw Caroline Shaw’s setting of Psalm 84 and its brooding dissonances conclude proceedings. Nevertheless, credit is most certainly due here; David Bray did not surrender to simpler pieces as a finale. Conductor and choir worked dexterously and brought a fascinating evening to an unexpected end.
Luminatus, it seems to me, are a choir of exceptional ability, combined with a progressive proclivity for programming. Their colourful performance, expressed not least through their technicolor clothes, projected warmth, love for their repertoire, and a refreshing collegiality and flexibility in their Renaissance repertoire. This was an accomplished performance by a luminous group.
