| New York Polyphony |
New York Polyphony can thank Christmas for its birth.
The singers Geoffrey Williams, countertenor, Steven Caldicott Wilson, tenor,
Christopher Dylan Herbert, baritone and Craig Phillips, bass, were all active on
the New York music scene including as members of the nine-voice choir at St.
Mary the Virgin in Times Square.
"We talked about getting together but never had the impetus beyond just having a
beer and talking about it," Williams said in a recent telephone interview.
Then in 2006 a friend who was producing a holiday program for Public Radio
International called and asked if they could put together a set of holiday
music.
They obliged. "We did some rough recordings ready for radio," Williams
said. Then when they listened back to the recordings they realized how good they
sounded together, and the tape ended up being released as a CD.
The popularity of the CD led to demand for live performances, and six years on the a
cappella ensemble is a going concern with a specialty in early and new music.
New York Polyphony will perform Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall on the
Bowling Green State University campus.
From the beginning, New York Polyphony forged a close working relationship with
composer Andrew Smith. His work, Williams said, bridges the gap between modern
and medieval music.
"He’s based very much in chant and medieval harmonies," Williams said.
"His music has shaped very much the sound of our group."
What connects the old and new music is "a sense of clarity that’s
required," he said. The harmonies are spare and lean well suited to an
ensemble of male voices.
The music provides a contrast at a time "when so much is packaged especially in
terms of singing," he said. "We have no microphones. We have nothing
else that enhances our voices except hopefully the room we’re in. What bridges
the old and the new is this interest in purity and cleanliness."
Williams continued: "There’s something attractive about four guys walking on a
stage without a microphone. All we have is a folder of music. All we’re giving
you is what nature gave us in our voices, and we’re using that as our
expression."
At BGSU, the quartet will perform "Green Groweth the Holly" attributed to
Henry the VIII. "With so many sticky sweet Christmas Carols, it’s nice to
hear some carols in their original form."
The program will range from music hundreds of years old to newly minted pieces.
Williams said the ensemble hopes to perform a new piece by Gabriel Jackson.
They’ve just received the score, and "it’s very challenging."
The concert will end with "I sing the birth" by Arthur Sullivan, of Gilbert
and Sullivan, which was the title track of the ensemble’s debut CD..
Among the pieces on the first half will be a mass by 16th century Thomas Tallis.
Masses provide chamber vocal ensembles with their larger scale works, akin to string
quartets.
"We don’t look at singing sacred music as a mission, it’s what our voices were
built for," Williams said.
New York Polyphony has commissioned a secular mass, "Missa Charles Darwin"
by composer Gregory Brown.
The spirit behind their performances remain the same regardless of the age of the
music.
As missionaries for "the gospel of early music," they contend "it is
living and breathing music. It’s viable current music, were not just singing a
part of history.
"This is music written by humans just like us. … We like to bring as much
passion to it as Romantic or 21st century repertoire. That’s how it comes to
life."
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