Celebrating its golden-jubilee season, the Friends of Chamber Music of Davenport gave its annual Holiday Concert at the Butterworth Center in Moline on December 17. The Friends gave this wonderful free concert as a gift to the community.
The setting alone, the home of William and Katherine Butterworth, was reason enough to attend. The house, built in 1892 by Katherine Deere’s parents as a wedding gift to their daughter, is a truly magnificent Moline historic landmark. The concert was held in the resplendent Italian Renaissance-style library, which was festooned with garlands of evergreen and white poinsettias.
The program began with the lilting strains of Heart Strings, featuring Janet Stodd on flute, Dortha DeWit on violin, Amy Patton on guitar, and Kristi Ruud playing dulcimer and recorder. Ruud was also responsible for the refreshing arrangements of familiar, traditional carols. The group began 13 years ago with Patton and Ruud, and performs at weddings and other programs, including an annual appearance in the St. Patrick’s concert at Augustana College.
Heart Strings played their instruments with great skill, enhancing the music with bright, happy sounds. The violin was rich and clear, and the flute overlay the other instruments with light, trilling notes. The guitar provided a low, rhythmic strumming as a foundation for the melodies, while the dulcimer added depth and warmth to the songs. I felt as if I were in King Arthur’s court listening to his musicians play to the dancing courtiers.
I especially enjoyed Heart String’s interpretation of “The Holly & The Ivy,” which was blithe and cheerful. The talented Ruud added completely original recorder harmonies to give levity to the usually solemn “Silent Night.” They also played a haunting arrangement of “I Wonder as I Wander,” by Rob Roy MacGregor. They closed their performance with a rousing rendition of “Christmas in Kilarney,” in which Stodd played a piccolo, which has even lighter tones than the flute. Heart Strings recently recorded a compact disc, called Heart Songs, copies of which were on sale after the concert.
After a brief intermission, we were then treated to the dulcet sounds of Voices in Harmony Men’s Chorale, from the Salem Lutheran Church in Moline. They began as a quartet and grew into the chorale as more members joined. James H. Parks was the chorale’s first director in 1995. After he passed away in 1999, Keith A. Haan took over as director in September 2000. Voices in Harmony had a nice mix of young singers and seasoned vocalists, 12 in all, with a good balance of tenor, bass, and baritone.
Under Haan’s keen direction, the chorale lulled us with some lovely old carols such as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” and a moving 13th Century plainsong chant, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” The plainsong chant was an ambitious undertaking due to the minor chords and dissonance featured in this musical form. The chorale gave a commendable performance, staying in key and handling the unusual rhythms deftly.
“Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head,” arranged by Parks, was equally ambitious, but the execution was not as good. Although the vocalists had fine voices, not many had the facility to scale the octaves required in this particular arrangement.
The chorale’s program included “Sleep, Sleep,” a nostalgic tune harkening back to the days of barbershop quartets, which the chorale, blending their voices in perfect harmony, handled beautifully. Their selection of a lively spiritual, “Have You Heard,” by Jay Althouse, should probably have been omitted. The two soloists were completely unmatched in skill. The bass, with his gorgeous, clear voice, tackled his part with confidence and aplomb, while the tenor sounded strained and out-of-tune when singing the high notes. “The Gift Carol,” a Spanish carol, could also have been omitted. The song had a complex arrangement with intricate rhythms and some tricky passages, which would have sounded much richer with a full choir. The 12 voices just couldn’t sustain the melody.
The concert lasted just under an hour, after which we all adjourned to the Butterworth Center’s splendid living area for some scrumptious refreshments and informal caroling led by the men’s chorale. The latter was probably my favorite part of the evening. Caroling is such a beautiful, and almost forgotten, tradition. I was happy to see just about everyone singing along. We sounded great, I might add.
The only thing I missed during this lovely evening was the sight of children running and playing, or at least singing with their mouths full of cookies. Aside from my own two, I saw only three other children. The audience was predominantly made up of elderly couples who still appreciate the simple joys of the holiday season. I can’t wait for next year’s concert.
The setting alone, the home of William and Katherine Butterworth, was reason enough to attend. The house, built in 1892 by Katherine Deere’s parents as a wedding gift to their daughter, is a truly magnificent Moline historic landmark. The concert was held in the resplendent Italian Renaissance-style library, which was festooned with garlands of evergreen and white poinsettias.
The program began with the lilting strains of Heart Strings, featuring Janet Stodd on flute, Dortha DeWit on violin, Amy Patton on guitar, and Kristi Ruud playing dulcimer and recorder. Ruud was also responsible for the refreshing arrangements of familiar, traditional carols. The group began 13 years ago with Patton and Ruud, and performs at weddings and other programs, including an annual appearance in the St. Patrick’s concert at Augustana College.
Heart Strings played their instruments with great skill, enhancing the music with bright, happy sounds. The violin was rich and clear, and the flute overlay the other instruments with light, trilling notes. The guitar provided a low, rhythmic strumming as a foundation for the melodies, while the dulcimer added depth and warmth to the songs. I felt as if I were in King Arthur’s court listening to his musicians play to the dancing courtiers.
I especially enjoyed Heart String’s interpretation of “The Holly & The Ivy,” which was blithe and cheerful. The talented Ruud added completely original recorder harmonies to give levity to the usually solemn “Silent Night.” They also played a haunting arrangement of “I Wonder as I Wander,” by Rob Roy MacGregor. They closed their performance with a rousing rendition of “Christmas in Kilarney,” in which Stodd played a piccolo, which has even lighter tones than the flute. Heart Strings recently recorded a compact disc, called Heart Songs, copies of which were on sale after the concert.
After a brief intermission, we were then treated to the dulcet sounds of Voices in Harmony Men’s Chorale, from the Salem Lutheran Church in Moline. They began as a quartet and grew into the chorale as more members joined. James H. Parks was the chorale’s first director in 1995. After he passed away in 1999, Keith A. Haan took over as director in September 2000. Voices in Harmony had a nice mix of young singers and seasoned vocalists, 12 in all, with a good balance of tenor, bass, and baritone.
Under Haan’s keen direction, the chorale lulled us with some lovely old carols such as “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” and a moving 13th Century plainsong chant, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” The plainsong chant was an ambitious undertaking due to the minor chords and dissonance featured in this musical form. The chorale gave a commendable performance, staying in key and handling the unusual rhythms deftly.
“Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head,” arranged by Parks, was equally ambitious, but the execution was not as good. Although the vocalists had fine voices, not many had the facility to scale the octaves required in this particular arrangement.
The chorale’s program included “Sleep, Sleep,” a nostalgic tune harkening back to the days of barbershop quartets, which the chorale, blending their voices in perfect harmony, handled beautifully. Their selection of a lively spiritual, “Have You Heard,” by Jay Althouse, should probably have been omitted. The two soloists were completely unmatched in skill. The bass, with his gorgeous, clear voice, tackled his part with confidence and aplomb, while the tenor sounded strained and out-of-tune when singing the high notes. “The Gift Carol,” a Spanish carol, could also have been omitted. The song had a complex arrangement with intricate rhythms and some tricky passages, which would have sounded much richer with a full choir. The 12 voices just couldn’t sustain the melody.
The concert lasted just under an hour, after which we all adjourned to the Butterworth Center’s splendid living area for some scrumptious refreshments and informal caroling led by the men’s chorale. The latter was probably my favorite part of the evening. Caroling is such a beautiful, and almost forgotten, tradition. I was happy to see just about everyone singing along. We sounded great, I might add.
The only thing I missed during this lovely evening was the sight of children running and playing, or at least singing with their mouths full of cookies. Aside from my own two, I saw only three other children. The audience was predominantly made up of elderly couples who still appreciate the simple joys of the holiday season. I can’t wait for next year’s concert.
