Swanhurst Chorus

Spring 2012

Saturday May 12th _ 4 PM
St. John’s on The Point, Washington & Willow Sts, Newport.

Copland’s “In the Beginning” is one of his very few a cappella works. The American composer chose his text from the first & second chapters of the Book of Genesis, and set the text for solo and four-part chorus. Although it appeared after “Appalachian Spring”, “In the Beginning” has none of the "folkish" tendencies of the earlier ballet. The soloist opens the work with a recitative-like presentation of the first line, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." The chorus remains silent until they slip in quietly, at "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." During the rest of the piece, the soloist acts as narrator, singing "in a gentle manner, like reading a familiar and oft-told story."

Copland indulges in text painting at several points in the piece. Throughout, as in rondo-form, the same music returns for each of the seven days of the creation as the chorus delivers a repeated line, reminiscent of Gregorian chant, declaiming rapidly, "And the evening and the morning were the [first, second, etc.] day." In general, the music of “In the Beginning” is in a hymn-like, chordal style that follows the inflections of the words. Despite moments of simple bitonality, the piece is diatonic. The few canonic passages do not detract from the otherwise clear text setting, which is syllabic almost throughout. Occasionally, the soloist and the chorus are in different keys, creating a "bluesy" sound. The telling of the Creation Story starts simply, reaching a glorious harmonic and dynamic pinnacle as breath enters the figure of Man. A thoroughly moving experience for all.

Other works on the program include Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia”, a moving arrangement of “Precious Lord” from the Suite “I Have a Dream”, as well as a selection of well-loved spirituals.