"I wanted to write something that reaches people," says composer Jonathan Leshnoff.
The result of that desire, Requiem for the Fallen, receives its premiere tomorrow by the Handel Choir of Baltimore and the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
The score, which incorporates traditional Latin and Hebrew liturgical texts, poems from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and a well-known prayer attributed to St. Francis, commemorates both military and civilian casualties of war. Leshnoff, a faculty member at Towson University and the BCO's composer in residence, does not specify which war.
"The piece could apply to anything," he says. But last spring, when Leshnoff was commissioned by the Handel Choir and Handel Society of Dartmouth College to write a work for chorus and orchestra, "the Iraq thing was definitely in my mind. I guess if I wrote it today, it would be about the economy," he adds with a laugh.
The composer was in a decidedly serious mood when he worked on the project. "We're all upset by this war, no matter what side of the debate we're on," he says. "But I've written the music in a nonpolitical, nonpartisan way."
Leshnoff, whose powerfully expressive Violin Concerto was premiered in 2006 by the BCO, drew inspiration from a cantata by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, Dona nobis pacem, which incorporates portions of the Latin Mass for the Dead and Whitman verses.
"I fell in love with that work," Leshnoff says. "And I knew then that I wanted to use Whitman's 'Dirge for Two Veterans,' which Vaughan Williams uses. I wanted the Requiem to have religious overtones, of course. I looked into my own [Jewish] faith and the Catholic faith. And my colleague at Towson University, Carl Schmidt, found the St. Francis prayer for me; I wasn't aware of it. It is such an uplifting, beautiful prayer - 'Lord make me an instrument of thy peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love.' "
Schmidt also played a part in prompting the commission and bringing the Handel Choir and BCO together for the project. The orchestra's previous experience with Leshnoff's Violin Concerto was remarkably successful - excellent audience response and an opportunity to record the concerto for the Naxos label (the CD is due shortly) - so music director Markand Thakar was happy to be involved with the composer again.
"Jonathan writes compelling music," Thakar says. "The Requiem is a very passionate, emotion-wrought expression of great pain and also great reconciliation. The music comes from this angle and that angle, but it all holds together."
Melinda O'Neal, artistic director of the Handel Choir, says the new piece challenged her ensemble. "The chorus members are used to a diet of Handel and Bach, not things like mixed meter, dissonance, quick changes of mood," she says. "It has been a tough learning process, but they're really sold on it."
Leshnoff, who is working on a trombone concerto for Baltimore Symphony Orchestra musician Chris Dudley and other projects, sounds upbeat about tomorrow's premiere. "Quite honestly," he says, "I think it's a strong piece."
Also on the BCO's program will be Brahms' Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny), performed with the Handel Choir, along with Schubert's Symphony No. 6 and Lee Gannon's Free From Seasons Passing.
The concert is at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Goucher College' Kraushaar Auditorium, 1021 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson. For tickets and more information: 410-704-2787, thebco.org..
Chamber Players
The Ritz Chamber Players heated up Second Presbyterian Church Sunday afternoon with a diverting mix of repertoire and mood.
Founded in 2002 to showcase top-drawer African-American musicians from around the country, the ensemble is an obvious choice for a Black History Month event, which is how this particular concert was marketed. But it would be a serious mistake to think of this group as limited in any way. This was the third time I've had a chance to sample the Ritz artistry in the past year or so; I'm looking forward to a fourth.
Haydn's Trio No. 3 in G exuded abundant elegance and charm, with many a deftly turned phrase and dynamic contrast from flutist Judy Dines, violinist Tai Murray and cellist Troy Stuart. Dines had a chance to show off a crystalline technique and considerable expressive nuance in Francois Borne's surefire showstopper, Fantasie Brilliante on Themes from Bizet's 'Carmen,' with strong support from pianist Kevin Sharpe.
Adolphus Hailstork's American Landscape No. 2, an atmospheric, jazzy work that gets from only a violin and cello at least a string quartet's worth of texture, inspired terrifically potent playing by Murray and Stuart. Stravinsky's L'histoire du Soldat got a vibrant workout from Murray, Sharpe and clarinetist Terrance Patterson.
The refined, yet full-bodied, lyricism of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2 could have used a little more tonal warmth from Murray, but she matched Stuart and Sharpe for intensity of phrasing. It was a compelling performance.
Distinguished alum
In my review last week of Awadagin Pratt's recital at the Peabody Conservatory, I misidentified the honor he received that evening. It was the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni Award. Pratt became only the seventh Peabody graduate to receive that award since its inception three decades ago, joining the likes of pianist Andre Watts and guitarist Manuel Barrueco. Peabody, of course, is a part of Hopkins.
tim.smith@baltsun.com