Composer Stephen Paulus had decided from the start that his 9/11 commemorative oratorio, "Prayers and Remembrances," would be about much more than the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 10 years ago.
It would be a work to commemorate life and death, whether it was one person dying or 100, death by natural causes or natural disasters.
"This is a work of healing, hope and humility," he told the audience half-filling Centennial Hall Sunday afternoon for the Tucson Chamber Artists and Tucson Symphony Orchestra's world premiere performance.
Moments into the seven-movement work, conducted by TCA Music Director Eric Holtan, it was clear that Paulus had succeeded. "Prayers and Remembrances" played like a heartfelt promise of hope even in the backdrop of unfathomable heartache. It was easy to envision scenes from that fateful day. Yet the overall mood and message also could apply at the passing of a favorite uncle.
Paulus opened the oratorio with shimmering cymbals and slow rumbling percussion to set the ominous tone of Henry Vaughn's poem "They Are All Gone." Just after the choir sings the soul-heavy words - "They are all gone into the world of light! / And I alone sit lingering here" - an angelic harp and crystalline flute peep in like a brilliant rainbow.
Paulus balances the piece with similar seesawing emotions. Church bells toll against the soft strains of a harp, but before the mood gets too solemn or holy, he introduces quivering percussion, chimes from a marimba and bright and sweeping string passages that brighten the tempo.
Holtan, who with TCA patron Dorothy Vanek commissioned Paulus to write the piece, was true to Paulus' vision. He never let the choir, which was in spectacular voice Sunday, wallow in the texts - seven excerpts from sacred and secular works including the uplifting "Lord Make Me an Instrument" from St. Francis of Assisi, an inspiring passage from the traditional Navajo prayer "In Beauty It Walks" and the combined words of Mohammed and Hebrew text to emphasize loving thy neighbor.
Holtan interpreted the music with a similar light hand, bringing out the sorrow on equal footing with the joy. There was never a sense of untempered urgency from Holtan or the orchestra, which played with remarkable warmth and passion. Holtan performed with the comfortable command of someone who had been living with the piece for years, not weeks.
The concert's first half was devoted to Mozart. The enormously talented Kingfisher String Quartet - violinists Ellen Chamberlain and Benjamin Nisbet, violist Emma Noel Votapek and cellist Anne Gratz - opened with "Ave verum corpus." The orchestra and choir followed with a breathtaking performance of "Requiem."
Review
"Remembrance & Renewal: A Concert to Commemorate the Tenth Anniversary of September 11," with the Tucson Chamber Artists featuring the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Kingfisher String Quartet at Centennial Hall Sunday. UApresents also collaborated.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.
