By Bryce Christensen
“Film
music has been–and always will be–my music of choice,” writes critic Jim
Lochner. “It’s the balm that soothes my pain, the jolt that
jump-starts my passion, and the light in my day.” “When I hear those
[film-music] melodies,” he explains, “I not only appreciate their beauty
of composition. They remind me of a defining moment in my life and one
from which I’ve never looked back. Film music has helped define who I
am.” Because many shared Lochner’s feelings about movie music, the
music-lovers who packed the Heritage Center on October 3rd found much to
delight them in the Orchestra of Southern Utah’s first concert of the
season, a concert devoted to classic cinema music, developing the theme
“Soundtrack of Our Lives.”
Featuring five guest choirs, this
movie-themed extravaganza transported audiences across space to the
popcorn-in-the-dark ambiance of the movie theater and back in time to
the years when a dozen featured movies first flickered across the silver
screen.
Beginning the evening on a playful note, the Canyon
View High School Madrigal Choir, under the direction of Adrianne J.
Tawa, amused the audience with their frisky interpretation of “Soul
Bossa Nova,” featured in the soundtrack of Austin Powers: International
Man of Mystery. With their spirited syncopations, accompanied by
comically exaggerated gestures, the Canyon View singers brought bemused
smiles to their listeners, smiles made all the wider by memories of the
absurd hijinks of the 1997 film.
Stirring softer and more
innocent cinema recollection, the Canyon View singers then performed
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Spotlighting talented soloists Caroline
Potter and Logan Heavyrunner, this beguiling number evoked all the
wondrous movie-screen illusions that made The Wizard of Oz such a
cherished escape from Depression-era realities when it first appeared in
1939.
Taking the stage to celebrate more recent film
melodies, the Cedar High School Madrigal Choir, under the direction of
Mark Ganowsky, began with “Kiss the Girl” from 1989 hit The Little
Mermaid. Sweeping the audience up in the romantic enchantment of
Disney’s animated crowd-pleaser, the Cedar High singers delivered every
“Sha la la” with irresistible warmth and verve.
The
Cedar High singers then shifted the mood as they turned to “Jai ho!”
from Slumdog Millionaire, the much-acclaimed 2009 film set in Mumbai,
India. Listeners could only marvel at how this versatile choir had
suddenly filled a concert hall in Southern Utah with the exotic rhythms
and the swelling dynamism of that distant and mysterious land.
Keeping
a cinema connection with Asia, the In Jubilo Choir next took the stage,
under the direction of Jackie Riddle-Jackson, to perform “What a
Wonderful World,” a sleeper hit that vaulted into national prominence
when the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam incorporated it in its
soundtrack two decades after Louis Armstrong first recorded it. As
listeners savored In Jubilo’s tender rendition, they felt again the
heart-stirring emotion that made this number such a widely cherished
part of the movie soundtrack.
Turning from American
soldiers in Vietnam to American convicts in the Deep South, In Jubilo
then fused their collective musical gifts in a poignant rendition of
“Down in the Valley to Pray.” This African-American spiritual
captivated millions when the Coen Brothers movie O Brother, Where Art
Thou? showcased Allison Krauss’ version of it in its soundtrack. As the
Heritage Center audience listened to In Jubilo’s evocative pleading,
many relived the movie, feeling again the pull of its soundtrack. In
the perfectly modulated voices of In Jubilo, this old gospel melody
deeply moved listeners, reminding them of how this devout melody somehow
penetrated the facetious irreverence pervading the 2000 film.
Transitioning
to a sweetly languid mood, Southern Utah University’s Opus Choir, under
the direction of Kevin Baker, next took the stage to perform
“Summertime,” one of the songs made popular by the 1959 film adaption of
the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. Opus’ impressive rendition of this
number dripped with the honeyed languor of this beloved classic, yet
still conveyed the brief intensity that breaks through in its “take to
the sky” third stanza.
Even more striking was Opus’ performance
of “Make Our Garden Grow,” a number taken from Candide, the Leonard
Bernstein 1956 operetta converted into a TV movie in 1991 and again in
2003. As their imploring voices conveyed something of the philosophic
probing that Voltaire invested in the 18th-century book behind the
operetta, Opus reminded listeners of just how much intellectual
substance movies can occasionally deliver.
As the last
choir to take the stage, the Master Singers, under the direction of Dee
Rich, began with “The Impossible Dream,” a number forever associated
with the cinema performances of Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren in the
1972 movie adaption of the Broadway favorite Man of La Mancha. As the
voices of the Master Singers soared in world-defying idealism, listeners
once again contemplated the Knight of the Woeful Countenance and his
impossible yet inspiring mission in the service of Dulcinea.
Demonstrating
the remarkable breadth of their vocal talents, the Master Singers then
performed “Sunrise, Sunset” from the 1964 movie Fiddler on the Roof.
Voices that just moments before had expressed the unyielding valor of
Don Quixote were now lamenting—with aching pathos—the fleeting and
transitory nature of family joys.
After the
intermission, vocalists gave way to instrumentalists in exploring the
treasures of movie music. Under the masterful baton of director Xun
Sun, the Orchestra of Southern Utah delivered a truly memorable
rendition of John Williams’ Overture to The Cowboys, the 1972 film
starring—who else?—John Wayne, along with Slim Pickens and Bruce Dern.
Opening with brassy assurance, the orchestra brought to life the entire
parade of great movie cowboys—including not only the Duke, but also Gary
Cooper, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. The irrepressible drive and élan
of the orchestra’s cowboy romp soon carried listeners beyond the
individual heroics of the cowpokes to the social verve of a
high-steppin’ Western hoedown. The music then modulated into a
plaintively reflective passage, suggestive of the majesty of a
lonely night on the high plains, before swelling again into the striving
cadences of a veritable cavalcade of horsemen.
Yet in
the final cinematic number of the evening, the crude and raw world of
the 19th-century Western American cowboy yielded to the intense
religious passion of 18th-century European worship. With all five
choirs again taking the stage to join the orchestra, vocal and
instrumental talents melded in an astonishingly potent performance of
the Dies Irae and Lacrimosa segments of Mozart’s unfinished Requiem Mass
in D minor, featured in the 1984 film adaption of Peter Shaffer’s stage
play Amadeus. Taut with anguished anticipation of divine judgment,
Dies Irae overwhelmed listeners with its emotive depth. These same
listeners then heard the heartfelt pleadings of a lacerated soul craving
divine mercy in Lacrimosa. No concert conclusion could have reminded
the audience more forcefully that—at its best--movie music can plunge
listeners down to the inferno and them lift them up almost to the gates
of heaven!
As OSU’s Music Director and Conductor, Xun
Sun—once again—deserves high praise for bringing marvelous music to
Cedar City. Likewise praiseworthy are the five choir directors who had
their singers remarkably well prepared to perform a wide range of superb
music. One of those choir directors—namely, Jackie
Riddle-Jackson—deserves particularly favorable attention, for it was she
who took on the heavy responsibility of coordinating this concert,
bringing together six different ensembles in organizational as well
musical harmony.
The fusion of so many Cedar City talents lent emphasis to the
dedication of the concert to the memory of Irene Gentry Goodwin Bishop,
who for decades did a great deal to enrich the musical life of the
community. Her legacy will continue to give the region reason to
rejoice in music of all kinds—including movie music!
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Next OSU Concert:
Saturday, Nov. 9, featuring music by Wagner, Barber and Bradshaw
