NEW BERN, NC – Christ Church New Bern presented Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine (circa 1864-65) and Requiem (1888) in concert for the observance of All Saint’s Day, with the Christ Church choir enhanced by other singers from the community, a strong orchestra drawn from the resources of Greenville and Raleigh, and under the direction of Jacqueline Farrell, parish director of music. At the beginning of the concert, all sang the stirring Sine Nomine of Ralph Vaughn Williams with words by William Walsham How: “For All The Saints.” The new organ in the gallery was played by Farrell, along with the orchestra of strings, horns, and trumpets. Then the clergy, Rev. Paul Canady and Rev. Suzanne Hood, read the names of all those of the parish had died in the preceding year. The three-sheet program was lavish and of refined typography as to be practically unreadable.

Then Farrell came to the podium while the orchestra tuned again; the plinking of the harp was very audible among the instruments as they tuned. The orchestral resources were violin, four violas, two cellos, double bass, two horns, two trumpets, harp, and four-stop continuo organ.

The Cantique de Jean Racine is a student work and might otherwise be seldom heard, save that the Requiem is too short to stand alone. The Cantique beginning was a little rocky while the strings figured out they were supposed to play together, but their intonation soon settled down. In a similar manner, the tenors and basses were better after they realized that Farrell was giving them the rhythm. Their intonation was very good, and soon the whole chorus was sounding excellent together. The Cantique has some singable themes, both orchestral and vocal, and the performance of this brief work was really quite nice.

After a brief interlude, the Requiem began (and continued) with excellent balance between orchestra and chorus. (There was a very busy photographer, highly visible and moving hither and yon to get the best shot; he would have been much less disruptive if he had been dressed all in black and in some other place.) The trumpets had some fine soaring lines in the Introit and Kyrie. They were just right: soaring and obvious, without being too loud; excellent work by the husband and wife duo, Pat and Katie Dougherty.

The a capella O domine Jesu at the beginning of the Offertoire was at first ragged but was soon pulled together and absolutely beautiful. The Hostias, with a lyric solo by Lewis Moore, was one of the high points of the evening. The solo is then reprised by the choir, which in this case was very precisely performed, with excellent Latin diction and lovely intonation.

The horns came into their own in the Sanctus, with excellent balance with both the orchestra and the chorus.

The Pie Jesu began with the continuo organ and soprano solo; then the orchestra and harp came in with good effect. The soprano solo, Luana Palimetakis, was perfect for the part, with her precise intonation and minimal vibrato. Again, balance was excellent and suggested the hard work that preceded the concert.

Fauré’s Agnus Dei is very tuneful and provided opportunity for more excellent horn playing. The tenor section was also excellent, with none of the yelling that might have marked a less professional performance. All the choral work was very bel canto, with the lovely theme returning at the end.

The solo in the Libera Me was again the superb Moore, whose interpretation was dramatic but not operatic. Moore sang very clearly in a seemingly relaxed style that belies the difficulty of the music. He was followed by full chorus and orchestra with forte horns.

In Paradisum was indeed paradise with John O’Brien‘s perfect organ solo at the beginning. The strings were suitably suppressed and thus very effective. In this final piece of the evening, the strings had achieved the confidence that is always so musically satisfying.

Orchestra and chorus performance is New Bern in usually limited to the annual Messiah event. It is greatly to be hoped that this concert is only the first in a long series at Christ Church. Loud praise and clapping for Farrell and the massed resources.