Williams Concert Choir and Percussion Ensemble

Brad Wells and Matthew Gold, directors

The Williams College Department of Music presents the Williams Concert Choir and Percussion Ensemble with Stravinsky’s Les Noces on Friday, April 29 at 8 p.m. in Chapin Hall on the Williams College campus. This free event is open to the public.

The Williams Concert Choir and Percussion Ensemble join forces to present a combined concert including the Stravinsky piece, Les Noces. Less well known than his ballet work Petrushka or Firebird, Les Noces is however unmistakably Stravinsky: the composer’s unique sense of harmony and rhythm coupled with his obvious fascination with Russian folk ritual combine to form a work of great power and vitality. The choreographer, Diaghilev, wanted to stage Les Noces when it was completed in 1917, after a five-year gestation period. The logistical challenges of such a complex undertaking proved overwhelming during that time of war. It was not until 1923 that the piece finally received its first public performance in the form that the Williams Concert Choir and the Williams Percussion Ensemble are to perform on April 29. The highly unusual combination of choir, four soloists, four pianos and several percussionists might have made it difficult to stage at its inception, though for modern audiences that very exoticism only makes it all the more interesting. Stravinsky’s use of the peasant wedding as an allegory for man’s connection to the earth and role in the cycle of life speaks to us today as insistently as it did a hundred years ago, when it was yet a mere concept in the mind of one of the twentieth centuries most enigmatic and influential musicians

In addition to the Stravinsky, the Percussion Ensemble performs two other works. In the beginning there was rhythm by Sofia Gubaidulina features the percussion instruments that so fascinate the composer. Born in the USSR, a student of Dmitri Shostakovich, her music is intensely spiritual. This performance is a rare chance to experience one of the 20th century’s lesser known, but brighter burning lights. Joining the ensemble is the timpani soloist Jay Sager, a former student of Matthew Gold, director of the ensemble. Mr. Sager is a junior at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York and graduate of Mt. Anthony Union High School in Bennington, Vermont. Also featured on the concert is Drama, Trio op. 23 for 3 pairs of cymbals and players’ voices by the Chinese composer Guo Wenjing.

Williams College has long had a fine tradition of music performance in its choral ensembles. Brad Wells, Director of Vocal Activities, has helped that tradition flourish. The choral program has much to offer students interested in singing, with a number of performances throughout the year, a wide range of repertoire, recordings and tours.

Employing a nearly limitless battery of percussion instruments, the Williams Percussion Ensemble performs cutting edge new music, masterworks of the twentieth century, experimental music, and music from around the globe. Performances feature the use of all manner of percussion instruments as well as homemade objects, found sounds, and electronics. In addition to music for percussion alone, the group presents works for mixed ensembles and new and experimental music for other instruments, and has often worked directly with composers. The ensemble also collaborates with artists in other media in order to explore the connections between different types of sound, form, image, and movement.

Event Program