The Pittsburgh Camerata - What's everyone saying?

A SACRED SOUND

It would seem rather silly to criticize a concert titled "Six Centuries of English Cathedral Music" as being too churchlike. Yet, that is the issue in the season's opening performances by the Pittsburgh Camerata.

Variety is a constant demand in concerts, so when Camerata artistic director Rebecca Rollett chose this as a theme, she was narrowing her chances quite a bit.

While the near-chronological presentation showed development and changes in the music, in most cases, the approach and even the tempos were similar.

The one work that was greatly different was Benjamin Britten's "Festival Te Deum," which was written in 1945 and had strong bits of 20th-century rhythms and harmonies.

Less of a hymn than a lovely song to god, (sic) the work clearly showed how close together the others were.

Even Ralph Vaughan Williams "Mass in g minor," written in 1922, was tied to the other pieces in a conscious effort by the composer to use modal forms popular centuries earlier.

As a result, the Mass had more of a link to "Lamentations" by Thomas Tallis or "O Lord, How Long Wilt Thou Be Angry" by Henry Purcell than it did to anything from the composer's own time.

And, as a result, it fed into the overall feel of the concert.

The performance by the chamber choir was excellent, however. Vocal separations in the Tallis piece and in "Ave Rex Angelorum" from 1450 were precise. Solo work from people such as alto Rose Dorsey and baritone Adrian Rollett stood out.

The Saturday concert at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Highland Park was attended by about 100 people.

It will be repeated 8 pm Friday at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Oakmont and 8 pm Saturday at the Church of the Ascension in Oakland.

Details: (412) 421-5884

- Bob Karlovits