HIS MAJESTIE’S CLERKES
The setting and acoustics of Quigley Chapel couldn’t be more ideal for such a concert. Built in 1921 by Cardinal Mundelein during a period in Roman Catholicism when opulence was appropriate to anything having to do with the priesthood, the chapel, which is part of Quigley Preparatory Seminary North, is more or less a reproduction of the famous Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, the breathtaking chapel erected by Saint Louis in 1248 to enshrine what is believed to be a relic of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus during his crucifixion.
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All these factors were much in evidence at the Clerkes’ recent concert, which began with a series of short works conducted by Childress. The first was a brief and rarely heard English setting called “O God, the proud are risen” by Thomas Tomkins (1573-1656), which speaks of an assembly of proud men rising up against the innocent, a common theme of Lenten and Holy Week texts. The edition heard was prepared by Dr. Bernard Rose of Magdalen College, Oxford, and lent to the Clerkes for this performance. This was followed by the famous Good Friday setting of Psalm 69:20-21 in Latin by Palestrina (1545-1594), which quotes the notorious prophecy that is so central in the Passion accounts of Jesus: “they gave me gall for food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” The piece is a somber masterpiece of Renaissance polyphony whose nuanced and hushed balances and entrances were treated with exquisite care by the Clerkes.
The second half of the program was conducted by the Clerkes’ codirector, Anne Heider (it’s characteristic of the group’s egoless approach that when either Childress or Heider conducts, the other goes back into the ensemble and sings alto). It began with two somber psalm texts, one a French setting of Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd . . .”) from the high Renaissance by Claude Goudimel, the other a fascinating and seldom heard German setting of Psalm 22 (“My God, my God . . .”) from high Romanticism by Felix Mendelssohn. The latter was marked by a purity of tone, timbre, and style little known in performances of 19th-century choral music, and what a pleasure it was to hear!
Enter Dan Tucker, well known for years as editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune by day and award-winning composer of chamber music, symphonies, choral music, ballets, and opera by night (and weekend). From mutual admiration a commission resulted wherein Tucker would compose a setting of the Rood text for the Clerkes to introduce.
Featured in the work were Richard Brunner as a dramatic and appropriately pious speaker, alto Terry Sullivan, and the exquisite harpist Tija Danilovics.
