Tanglewood Farewell

The Boston Symphony Orchestra ended its Tanglewood season with a weekend of superb music, including stirring performances on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon by the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

 

A lot of my favorite Tanglewood concerts over the years have been those that included the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC). I really enjoy and appreciate choral music, and one of the first things I do when the Tanglewood season brochure arrives each spring is to go through the programs and circle all the ones that include the always-excellent TFC.

 

The more than 250 members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus volunteer their time and considerable talent, performing year-round with the BSO and the Pops; John Oliver is the conductor and founder of the chorus. This year is the fortieth anniversary year for the group.

 

The Friday evening concert began with “Gloria” for soprano, orchestra, and chorus by Francis Poulenc, an exuberant composition written in 1959 that uses the traditional Latin text for the Mass, although with some non-traditional changes to the words. David Zimman was the conductor; Isabel Bayrakdarian the soprano soloist; and the chorus contributed a marvelous performance.

 

The Poulenc piece was a terrific showcase for their artistry of the chorus; it’s an accessible, lively piece that opens boldly, continues with passages of poignant loveliness and complex vocal harmonies, and includes, just at the end, a gorgeous amen. The orchestra, chorus, and the soloist were just terrific.

 

The second piece on Friday night was “The Planets “ by Gustav Holst, another very accessible, very beautiful composition. This was the just the orchestra, until close to the end when there’s a magical passage including women’s voices, heard from offstage, that was contributed by the women of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Lovely.

 

Sunday’s final orchestral concert in the Koussevitzky Music Shed included two compositions that showed the Chorus at its best. The first piece was “Jesu, meine Freude,” by J.S. Bach, a motet for five part mixed chorus, performed in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the TFC. John Oliver conducted a smaller chorus made up of about half the usual group, accompanied by bassoon, cello, double bass, harpsichord, and organ. The music was beautiful, and beautifully sung. The instruments were there to support the voices, and the voices were magnificent.

 

The second piece was, of course, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Opus 125, to give it its formal title. This massive work, for a large orchestra and the whole chorus, as well as four soloists, is traditionally played on the last Sunday afternoon of the Tanglewood season; it's  interesting to hear it under the baton of a different conductor every year, while trying to discern the individual flourishes each one brings to the music. On Sunday, the venerable Kurt Masur was on the podium.

 

The chorus has a large role to play in the finale, singing the well-known “Ode to Joy.” And joyous it was. The composition is big and bold and complex, building to an enormous finish, with voices and instruments at their utmost. It was glorious. I know it is played often, but it is a very special experience to hear it performed live, and so well, year after year. I can only imagine how much fun it is to be a part of the chorus, on the rows of seats behind the orchestra, singing with all your heart about joy.

 

The eight weeks of the Tanglewood season offer an extraordinary opportunity to immerse oneself in great music, performed live, by so many of the finest musicians in the world. It’s sad when it comes to an end, but we are so fortunate that we get to enjoy it. I'm already looking forward to next summer.