Bluegrass Forum

From the StarTribune (Stribune)

From http://www.startribune.com/1374/story/949401.html

Review: 'Bluegrass Mass' amazing
William Randall Beard
Last update: January 20, 2007 – 6:15 PM

Carol Barnett's amazing "The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass" was given its world premiere by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers in collaboration with the bluegrass band Monroe Crossing at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater on Friday night.

This was not an easy partnership. The impulse behind bluegrass is improvisation. It is virtually unheard of for bluegrass musicians to play from scores. Yet Barnett's music was fully notated. But her music was idiomatic enough and the musicians flexible enough that it sounded perfectly natural.

Much of the credit for the success of the piece has to go to librettist Marisha Chamberlain who took the Catholic liturgy and transformed it into a text in the bluegrass tradition. The mass movements were separated by verses of a ballad that told the story of Adam and Eve, but Chamberlain replaced the notion of original sin with that of original blessing and created a work of life-affirming celebration.

Barnett traversed the two idioms quite ingeniously, bringing out the best in both ensembles. The contrasts between the sophisticated classical choral sound and the jubilant bluegrass harmonies were effectively used to make the text come alive. Occasionally, as in the Kyrie, the instrumentalists felt straight jacketed by the complex liturgical forms. But the triumphant Gloria that followed was an exuberant success. Likewise, the Credo, Chamberlain's explication of the traditional text, became a powerful Gospel number. This mass was compelling statement of faith that ended on a note of sublime grace and peace.

In the first half, Monroe Crossing cut loose with a set of their own. Their performances of traditional bluegrass and gospel as well as several original numbers had the audience cheering.

The concert opened with another world premiere, "Psalm Dances" by Daniel S. Godfrey, a serious and thoughtful work for chorus and chamber ensemble. Godfrey has an individual, even quirky voice that uses elements from jazz to atonality to encompass the Psalms' diverse emotions from joy and lament. He made particularly effective use of the percussion. But this was music that engaged the mind more than the heart.

The Ensemble Singers handled Godfrey's complex score effectively, if not with ease. They seemed to be working very hard. In the mass, they sang as if they had been to the manner born. Director Philip Brunelle was in his element conducting these two works of profound spirituality.

and also from the Pioneer Press

from http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincitie ... 504393.htm

BY ROB HUBBARD
Pioneer Press
The ancient structure of the Catholic Mass has sprung up in so many musical incarnations over the centuries that it's somewhat surprising that no one had thought of a bluegrass Mass. Granted, that mandolin- and fiddle-fueled genre just came down from the Appalachians around World War II. And one can understand why its primarily Protestant practitioners might not look to the rituals of the Romans for inspiration.

But composer Carol Barnett and librettist Marisha Chamberlain have taken on this novel task, breaking down the barriers between bluegrass and classical music with the assistance of conductor Philip Brunelle, his VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and one of the Midwest's best bluegrass bands, Monroe Crossing. The work, "The World Beloved," received its premiere Friday night at Stillwater's Trinity Lutheran Church, and it proved an admirable undertaking that struck a fairly good balance between the solemnity of the structure and the effervescent spirit of mountain music.

After the full house at Trinity got an earful of Monroe Crossing's customary repertoire during a five-song set before intermission, the challenge became how well Barnett's Mass would act as a conduit for the band's talents and the style's inherent appeal.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Mass was most successful when at its simplest: when fiddler Lisa Fuglie sang soft ballads that bridged the traditional parts of the Mass. While the "Gloria" was aptly celebratory (and was probably the best blend of choir and band), this Mass was most engrossing when stripped down to its contemplative core, memorably when Fuglie reprised its opening in an a cappella finale.

But the Mass wasn't the only world premiere on the program: A setting of five psalms by Daniel Godfrey proved an interesting choral odyssey from a composer best known for chamber works. It was an intriguingly unconventional and imaginative piece, well sung by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

Congrats to Monroe Crossing, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and all others involved.

Let me start by saying that, generally speaking, these reviews are positive and I did not attend the performance.

However--

There are some condescending and just plain ignorant viewpoints expressed here! No one ever thought of a bluegrass mass?? Even twenty years ago there was talk of such a thing! In fact, there was a performance and workshop for a BG mass just last year in Minneapolis!(Sorry, I don't remember the details ) And just what are the 'barriers' between classical and bluegrass music?? Don't they employ the same (Western) harmonic structures? Just what makes completely written out music culturally superior to improvised music? Even the classical music tradition employs elements of improvisation! And why is the Catholic liturgy thought to NOT affirm life -- If anything is life-affirming it is the Gospel!! I also wonder just what was meant when the reviewer stated that MC 'felt straight jacketed by the complex liturgical forms' -- What kind of BS is that??? Does the reviewer mean that MC couldn't, as a band, express itself because it was performing a liturgy??? Who pays these guys to write this??????

I think it's great that Monroe Crossing stretches it's boundaries to serve the arts community -- I just wish there were more in that community who HAD A CLUE!!

Hey scrubber,

I don't know what you attended last year in Minneapolis, perhaps you can fill us in a bit. on what they covered.

I appreciate you protecting bluegrass but I want to respond to a few things. I'm not a trained musicologist or anything but I have now intimate experience with this piece, so here's what I know. Here's what The World Beloved is about.

First, the uniqueness of a Bluegrass Mass. When Philip and his crew can find nothing in the archives of classical music for a bluegrass mass, I'm forced to believe him. We frequently play bluegrass at church services, in fact, that's pretty much what we expected when we signed up to work with Vocalessence; a bunch of nice Gospel songs in the bluegrass tradition.

Instead, what we received was a true Mass in the traditional classical sense. The Kryie, Gloria, Credo, Agnes Dei, Sanctus, Benediction, (excuse the spelling, it's all Latin to me) were all there with a series of ballads tying it together. Parts were in Latin, parts in English. Constant time shifts between 2/2, 3/4, 5/4. Bluegrass tends to say in rhythm or occasionally add a measure or a couple of beats here or there. With "The World Beloved" time, tempo and key shifted frequently.

The barriers between classical and bluegrass music revolve around the traditions of each. When we received the music, we realized that Lisa was the only one equipped to read this piece. The rest of us used the music to facilitate learning the piece by ear. We had the copyist make midi files for us and we listened to that. Without the music however, many of the rhythmic changes would have taken much longer to figure out. I'm sure classical people would have had no problem learning to play the piece.

Which makes up the next two questions. Being classical music, the pieces were in different modes than traditional bluegrass. It takes a little bit to find your happy place when you're given 16 bars to jam in a mode you're not used to playing in. Same 12 notes, just arranged differently. And though I wouldn't say it's superior to traditional folk music, the advantage of written music revolves around the ideas that can be expressed when one composer controls the harmonic and rhythmic content. In order to organize a 32 member choir and a five member band, you need a score and a conductor. Jamming doesn't cut it when things get that large. In a cross between the classical and bluegrass traditions, Carol gave us places where the instruments are given room to jam within a context.

I believe you took the "life affirming" comment out of context. He said the piece was "life affirming", he didn't say the Catholic liturgy or Gospel isn't. I think he could have made his point better by pointing out the uplifting nature of the piece. Great music can lift the spirit and this piece does.

As for the "straight-jacketed" feel of the Kyrie, it wasn't the liturgical form but rather the idea of the composer to make the Kyrie a true cry for mercy. It was very complicated and requires us to count each beat to play it properly. There was no room for improv in the Kyrie, and it was all the more stunning for that fact.

So overall, I don't take the exceptions to the reviews that you do. I appreciate you defending us and bluegrass in general but the fact remains that this was more of a classical piece played on bluegrass instruments and when heard with the choir somehow has a sense of bluegrass at it's root.

There are little touches that I think a longer review could have expanded on and I'll touch on now. The Kyrie, as mentioned, is a very heavy piece. It reminds me of some of the gothic choral music you hear in the scary movies now days. It's used to set up the Gloria, which compared to the Kyrie is like walking from a dark overgrown forest into a bright green pasture. When God speaks in the piece, it's in the most simple and bluegrassy movements, The more complicated the piece, the more human the text. I understand that I'm quite close to the piece at this point, but I really think it's brilliant.

It's hoped we get a studio recording on disc sometime soon and we know a live performance will be on Minnesota Public Radio in the near future. I'll try to post a heads up when that happens.

Thanks for your insider's take on this premier, Mark.

Certainly, bluegrass doesn't need to be defended by me or anyone else!
Having been 'raised' in the classical tradition, however, I tend to get annoyed by the smug attitude some others in that tradition have toward other kinds of music. These two reviews hit too many buttons! I read the paragraph re: the mass text too fast. It was the ballad linking the mass movements that was made 'life-affirming'

I tried to find a link for the BG mass I mentioned, but haven't had any luck yet. I did not attend the performance, but had a chance to view a few musical samples on-line and visit the composer's web site. His work was designed for liturgical use rather than performance. The Ordinary sections of the mass were incorporated, but not the literal mass text. The Stringband Liturgy used at Hope Lutheran Church in Jordan is also of this type and is essentialy a bluegrass work. While searching the web this morning, I also saw a few references to Catholic and Episcopal bluegrass masses, so it seems to be catching. As liturgical pieces, they probably wouldn't be listed in "classical" archives.

I find it interesting that the 'barriers' you mentioned between the two traditions concern performance practice. This is something that probably wouldn't be noticed by 'average' listeners. (Ironically, this point was made by W. Beard when he stated that even though the music was fully notated, it sounded idiomatic). For my part, I was thinking of the sound of the music(s) rather than the way the sounds were produced. It's interesting to listen to 17th and early 18th century classical violin music because it sounds so much like bluegrass fiddlin'!

It's interesting to listen to 17th and early 18th century classical violin music because it sounds so much like bluegrass fiddlin'!

Oddly enough, I used to have a recording of P.D.Q. Bach's "Bluegrass Cantata" that featured bluegrass fiddling on J.S. Bach's Brandenberg Concerto #3. Hilarious!

"Blaues Grass scheint auf mich, nichts als blaues Grass sehe ich." (Bluegrass shine on me. Nothing but bluegrass do I see.)

This just in...

We will be performing the "The World Beloved", The Bluegrass Mass on Wed, May 16, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. with Dale Warland & Cincinnati Conservatory Chorale somewhere in Cincinnati, OH.

Here's a bit about Dale and the choir
http://www.ccm.uc.edu/faculty/facultyPr ... ultyid=165