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Show 8 E The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, Novr mher 14, lfH2 MATINflft WlIKlNOi Pro Musica premieres new oratorio, Once in Israel n place central to her heritage. A line from the final poem in the cycle, "I Believe, summarizes the theme which echoes reI peatedly through the poetry: now contain this land. The nature of the libretto gives this work of both the sacred and the secular. Handel, Haydn, Beethoven or Mendelssohn it's not, but it still falls squarely within the Harvard Dictionary of Musics definition of an oratorio: A composition with a long libretto By Paul Wetzel Tribune Staff Writer Judeo-Christia- Pro Musica, the chamber choir under the direction of John Marlowe Nielson, opened its season this weekend at First Presbyterian Church with the world premiere of an oratorio by local composer Marie Barker Nelson. Titled Once in Israel," the work, which is just under an hour long, is the setting of 10 poems by Emma Utah Lou Thayne, the who Miss Nelson, novelist. and poet has studied with Paul Hindemith, Leroy Robertson, Ramiro Cortes and Vladimir Ussachevsky, wrote the oratorio as her doctoral dissertation in composition at the University of Utah. Miss Thayne's poems were written as part of a book, Once in Israel," which was prompted by the , authors visit to that country. In the introduction to that book, Miss tThayne explains that prior to her visit her acquaintance with Israel had conisisted only of her knowledge of the Bible and news accounts. I came back with Israel inside me," she writes. "Trying to understand why has prompted this book." The 10 poems which Miss Nelson has set are a combination of travelogue, religious reflection, Biblical paraphrase and one person's coming to grips with a culture and cross-curren- well-know- n ts religious or contemplative character that is performed in a concert hall or church without of scenery, costumes or action, by solo voices, chorus and orchestra." The work is scored for chorus, soprano and baritone soloists, and a conventional orchestra of strings, winds, brass and percussion (including piano). The musical idiom is a mixed one. On the basis of one hearing (Friday night) and in the absence of a look at the score, the following conclusions can be reached. Some pieces in the work, which is divided into 11 distinct numbers (an orchestral introduction and the settings of the 10 poems), appear atonal, although Miss Nelson's is a conservative atonality in which shocking dissonances rarely occur. Other numbers take on a tonal cast, due in large measure to the composers quotation of Jewish and Bedouin melodies, which one would assume are modal, and Israeli folk tunes. There are elements of both impressionism and expressionism in this work, although the former is the more pervasive. The coloristic devices Miss Nelson employs to give life in the minds eye to a word, phrase or scene are often quite effective in a picturesque sort of way, but there is nothing in this work which strikes one as innovative or profound, although the pieces are well crafted. The composer also tends to repeat herself. She is particularly fond of ending numbers with a compact, percussive burst of sound. Frankly, the oratorio's depth lies in its libretto. Mr. of 34, a chorus Nielsons forces orchestra of 32, soprano Lila works on this program, the Faure Requiem and the Bach Cantata No. 50 (Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft). The rendering of the former was mediocre and the latter was a fiasco. The interpretation of the Faure in those was shapeless. Tempos cases in which everyone seemed to agree on the same ones tended to be too slow, and phrasing was stilted, painfully so in the In In short, all conParadisum. cerned seemed to have missed the essence of this delicate piece. The one bright spot was soprano reCamille Cook's ndering of the Pie Jesu." Mr. Peterson, the baritone soloist, had occasional intonation problems. And the tenors in the chorus were Stuart and baritone Robert Peterson gave genuinely committed performances. Of the vocalists, the largest burden falls on the chorus, which performs five of the numbers itself with orchestra and a sixth with baritone soloist and orchestra. The chorus seemed well prepared and up to the demands of the music, which are not severe. Miss Stuart has a lovely, rich soprano which she used to good effect. Mr. Peterson gave his customary bold, bright, monochrome performance. The orchestra had its ups and downs. Pro Musica presented two other 4 not up to the demands of the Agnus Dei." Part of the problem, too, was in the numbers of instruments in the orchestra. This piece relies heavily on the lower strings, of which in this case there were only two violas, two cellos and a single bass. On some occasions, some parts of the orchestration were simply omitted. This was nothing, however, compared to the performance inflicted on the Bach. This cantata consists entirely of a fugue for double chorus, and its a tricky matter to carry off all the parts clearly, accurately and in a transparent texture. This performance was so badly out of joint, however, that it was a small wonder everyone got to the final cadence at all. My Favorite Year el l'H"y 1ISS 12:40. 2:30 4:20. ft: 10 OO.MO 1 1 Musical Storybook Fantasy time! Gomeoife. BANDITS CHARLTON HESTON I 1206, 246 446. 46 r IMlltV tiutbe SOUMt 10:18 (&) 2felIKg ? A GW ) )fifeBtf III "ftr 44)0 v ii j ROCKY 140,340 I'""' I j 'u' c J XOtTI unc n cj Nl ftYLWftTM tTALLONlV, TjoiitT , , LODE. CREEP SHOVi isesliiMuij 546 (00 MI MOTHER Mon ITOI 4ft. 1048 1:11.3:30 fifed ' peter OTOOLE JESSICA HARPER ' CtllUS HOLIDAY PETER OTOOLE JESSICA HARPER My Favorite Year ms FTaniiy CEKifTr I CHARLTON HESTON 1 TIOLLtT ' MOTHER 1248.248 rn .SSSS center FAMILY TIMEl TIOLLCY 240 12:, 4:50, 740 8:10 r LODE BANDITS 36M ff TIILLIT CENTER AMILY d&fi fifeg (1CM WdWIHl. IISIm THE BEAST CUM!! R FEATURING SONGS I VOICES SAMMY OP LDRNE GREENE 015. WRITTEN JR. & MARGERY GRAY BY -- PRODUCER JOSEPH BARBERA. JAMESON BREWER ORIGINAL SCORE BASED AND CONDUCTED ON THE NOVEL 'HEIDT BY BY & TAKAMOTO IWAO ROBERT fOLTtr 240. 740 POLTERGEIST! TAYLOR HOYT S. CURTIN e MARTIN SHAFER-ANDRE- BY JOSEPH BARBERA & BY ROBERT TAYLOR WILLIAM $ 2:50. A BATTLE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. kftdmooJ 4ft STARTRCKJL j WI0TH 840. 7:10 8:20 SCHEINMAN PRESENT W 333tal CAIM1! U. JOHANNA SPYRI 41Q0 PRODUCED AAS1R , e,ewood x, MAjr 4:50, 0:10 SAMMY CAHN & BURTON BY sr TROLLEY 100 KHAH AN AGAMEMNON FILMS PRODUCTION MOTHER LODE CHARLTON HESTON NICK MANCUSO JOHN MARLEY as Elijah EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PETER SNELL PGlwaara. sunup substhm DIRECTED BY WRITTEN AND PRODUCED V KIM BY FRASER HESTON MANN 6 , . 12GS, 2.06, 446 REDWOOD 04 973-708- SCREEN 8 tj BANDITsll kj RCC BlliNlON BTc-ftr.1?- I Nnl 11 STBIttS The WI1HOU1 02 I 'l Wood ill M The Most Fun Ybull Ever Have BEING SCADEDI CENTER GARY COLEMAN 80S, (08. 1008 PAUL LEMAT The Madness. DON ADAMS PLUS! wtsr Fast AT ' CflKPSTOW HALHOLBROOK AND CRKPSHOWII - CENTER m NATIONAL V Spectacular! rFAMILY ffftj POLTERGEIST 13 v 6IA$r 440,6:10' POtTBr 240. 7KX) TROLLEY 1122 (llano 108. 08, 446 3:20.6:15 7:15, 9 20 The Memories. -- 1 TIILLIY FAMILY psl.V.A 1:29, 646.646. 1046 2764711 266-300- Mth South Redwood Rd "W Jl B2663896 Agamemnon Film TST 'eVP33 0470 TMtAvaat C0TTOHWOOO HKMAMD06 CHARLTON HESTON monn THEATRE 0 BASINGER NOW PLAYING TROLLEY SQUARE e 1 1962 SORRY NO PASSES ADRENNE BARBEAU RKHARD Live ON THE a SUNSET STRIP PRYOR WAPNING COLUMBIA PICTURE A HANDS , m ux i thcatucs JCOTTONUOOO"Y11 500H4GHA7S008 ROCKYQtytty the El HI W bAuArjAn M 3M01 278-47- Bl Xij 12:45, 300, 5:15 7:35, 10:00 6.00 OPEN AT VRUETfRIR. MO' SOUTN J7t 4 Al I cnmiimnzD id 46b 648 71 2nd il j I AST (4AT1WEES TOQAY FIRST BLOOD 1 2 33 2 30 4 2S 20 11 S 12 IS t I MS 10 ( QS f I. HI Jl HHI I 88 JT' 70mm SK M S NoPiiwi 12 4S J OS S 2S 7 45 1 A RONALD JACOBS Production of a GARY NELSON Film GARY COLEMAN PAUL IE MAT in JIMMY THE KID" 100,3:15, 5:25 7:40, 9:50 With RUTH GORDON DEE WALLACE Introducing WALTER OLKEWICZ And DON ADAMS as Walker Produced by RONALD JACOBS Screenplay by SAM BOBRICK Based on the novel by DONALD E WESTLAKE Executive Producers HARRY EVANS SLOAN and LAWRENCE L KUPPIN Directed by GARY NELSON pc; 'wr s,asnj Soundtrack Album available on Regency Records IT SQO1 m (621-81- M 1 7IX tail 1:15, 3:30, 5:45 800, 10:15 I6ANN6' S4- kaw SQUARE THEATRE Stn. 4 w l)u 6 TROLLEY New World Pictures I 973-708- 0 00 AND A GENTLEMAN E 12:20 2:4ft 1:10 74 10 10 1:20, 3:30,5:40 7:50, 1000 Would you believe... the comedy crime coper of the year ? 00 1 11 AYOFFfCER 42304 10E L"' the sender Q L JIMMY, THE KID" (PG) 10 BANDITS "FIRST BLOOD" (R) 1:00, 2 50, 4.40, 6:30, 8:15, 10:00 "CREEP SHOW" (R) 1:00, 3:15, 5:25, 7:40, 50 ( TIME MONSIGNOR" (R) W(tT THfATRfS LUXURY 1:30, 4:10, 7:00. 9:30 II PARAMOUNT PICTUlf cREDWOOD mmm 0PEX6 30 M4 MTt on oor wvwoiAxnft t THE HAND" |