Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble (5/11/23)

The Musical Murder Mystery of Gesualdo

Charlotte Mundy & Angela Yam ~ sopranos; Timothy Parsons ~ countertenor; Tomás Cruz ~ tenor; Jeffrey Gavett ~ baritone and director; Steven Hrycelak ~ bass; Adam Cockerham ~lute

Mentre, mia stella, miri – Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566–1633)

Sparge la morte al mio Signor nel viso – Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa

Tu part’ohimè dolente – Crescenzo Salzilli? (ca. 1580–1621)

Se vi duol il mio duolo
Moro, lasso
Chiaro risplender suole – Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa

Murder Mystery? Apparently Carlo Gesualdo murdered his unfaithful wife. This was never prosecuted, since it was an OK thing to do in his day. You make your own decision. I was more concerned with the music.

Unlike many early music vocal ensembles, these folks sang with a very full tone that sounded almost like a choir. I liked it. The first piece was bright and clear. The lute was included, but was hard to discern against the five voices. Not all vocalists performed each piece. This one was two sopranos (including one very high soprano), countertenor, tenor, and bass.

The second piece (soprano, countertenor, baritone, bass) was somber. There were some chromatic shifts, typical of Gesualdo’s music, that added some drama and tension to the music itself. By that, I mean that Gesualdo shifted the sound—harmonies, and even what sounds like jump-shift key changes—yet he ends with a calming tonic feeling. This was on display a little more in some of his later compositions.

Two versions of Tu part’ohimè dolente were offered. In theory, this was to offer the differences between two different tuning versions in existence during this time period. The differences were lost on me.

The final three Gesualdo pieces were my favorites. The first (soprano, countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass) included even more of the chromatic shifts within phrases and had varied tempos and volumes that created more interest and drama. The second (soprano, soprano, countertenor, tenor, bass) was somber, but with the addition of the extremely high soprano plus the many jump-shift key changes gave an edgy feel to the piece, yet it ended once again with a pretty regular major chord. The third (soprano, soprano, countertenor, tenor bass, lute) had a very full sound, similar to the first piece on the program, but with many more of the dissonances prevalent in the later Gesualdo works, stretching the style rhythmically, as well.

For the record, this was the first Ekmeles concert that included a lutenist. He acquitted himself quite well.

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