The Vallejo Choral Society will hold its final concert of the season, “In Aeternum,” in Benicia and Vallejo on May 18th and 19th (Photo by Chris Preovolos)
From 20th century American poetry to Shakespeare, jazz, and now Michael Haydn’s Requiem in C minor, Julia Morris has led the Vallejo Choir through a colorful and unique season. As she concludes her first year as artistic director, it would be fitting that Morris ends on a reflective note, while retaining her flair for the unexpected.
“It’s strangely bittersweet that our first season with the choral society is already over,” Morris said, reflecting on the past year of music-making and community-building. She paused for a moment, then she added: “I don’t see why it needs to be bitter. Maybe it’s just completely sweet.”
The concert program is consistent with Morris’s emotional subtlety in his complex portrayal of grief. “All of these works talk about death and the afterlife in some way,” Morris said. Sometimes full of joy, sometimes sad, this program introduces several perspectives throughout “In Aeternum.”
Haydn’s dramatic and delicate Requiem is a notable precursor to Mozart’s famous Requiem in D minor, which would follow twenty years later. In choosing this rarely performed work, Morris pays homage to Haydn himself, overshadowed by his more famous brother Joseph.
“Concertgoers who love Mozart’s Requiem will be pleasantly surprised to hear many familiar musical ideas from Michael Haydn’s Requiem,” Morris said. These overlaps demonstrate the communication that would have existed between her two artists, living and writing in the same city.
The similarities between the two Requiems are largely rhythmic. “Haydn writes the choral entrance with a slow and delicious suspension, set to the syncopated rhythm of the violins,” Morris explained. Mozart would later imitate this in the first vocal entrance in his own Requiem.
By pairing the Requiem with unlikely pieces like Andrea Daley’s “Beloved,” Morris uniquely draws parallels between the composers.
Just as the origins of Mozart and Haydn overlap, Kenyon College proved to be a place of musical and personal intersection for Morris. It was Dr. Benjamin “Doc” Locke, a Morris professor, who asked Kenyon alumnus Daley to write a song honoring his wife, Kay. Morris was inspired to include the song in memory of Kay, who passed away in 2020, remembering their love story as one of the greatest she had ever witnessed.
“It’s a love song, but it also has commentary that goes back to the overall theme of the show,” Morris said.
Melissa Dunphy’s “Memorial Suite” consists of four movements of contrasting memorial dances. From jumping jigs to lively folk dances, the theme of death takes a more upbeat turn. The final movement is taken from her Psalm 30, “You have turned my sorrow into a dance,” bringing an unexpected lightness to the grieving process.
The program concludes with “Hark, I Hear the Eternal Harp” by Alice Parker, whom Morris describes as a legend in the field. “This lovely arrangement will probably be sung in almost every chorus at once,” Morris explained.
The piece also serves as a special way to remember Parker, who passed away in December. This song expresses sadness from yet another angle, from a first-person perspective looking at the afterlife. “It’s the excitement of knowing that death is near and being able to meet her loved ones who have gone before her,” Morris said.
Morris has a mastery of critical themes, from song selection to conducting. “There are many stages of grief,” she said. “I think eventually you get to a place where you’re glad you had the experience with someone. And I think that’s a part of death that isn’t really explored in the music scene.”
When it comes to the connection between the chorus and the lyrics, Morris says he hopes to see that conversation happen. “That’s part of singing music and feeling what you’re feeling and sharing that with the community.”
Because the Requiem is written in Latin and contains a large amount of text, Morris sometimes pays special attention to specific emotions that need to be pursued. “You can’t sing music just for the notes. You have to tell a story,” Morris said, a feat that often requires translation.
Haydn incorporates many “text paints” that match musical phrases with images drawn by text. The chorus is there to evoke that, Morris explains, with a dramatic descending arpeggio to accompany the words about the gates of hell.
“There’s a huge difference in the way they sing based on the changes that occur when I ask them to dive a little deeper and sing from the heart instead of singing off the page,” Morris said. .
“The choice of melody and the complexity of the music is very comforting to me,” said chamber choir member Valerie Nelson. In contrast to the Shakespeare Gala, learning the various parts of this program proved more difficult, Nelson said. “But sometimes a larger section will come together and look around at each other in awe like, ‘I see this is what was meant to be,'” Nelson said.
“It’s really wonderful to see how versatile the choir is and how open they are to exploring so many nooks and crannies of the choral repertoire,” Morris said of their acceptance of her last year. Looking back, he said how grateful he was for his work.
If you go:
- what: Vallejo Choir “In Aeternum”
- when: May 18th 7pm, May 19th 3pm
- where: May 18: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 120 EJ St., Benicia; May 19: Springbrook Masonic Temple
101 Temple Way, Vallejo. - ticket: Tickets: $35 in advance, $45 at the door. Free for students. Visit www.vallejochoral.org