Concert Review: Composer paints tonal treasures with ‘Cenotaph’

At the center of this stellar event was the world premiere of Dominick Argento’s "Cenotaph” for chorus and orchestra. Long championed for his deft ability to wed highly descriptive yet often disparate texts with melodic passages that haunt the memory, Argento illustrated in "Cenotaph” that at age 81, his compositional gifts continue to flourish unabated. Among the challenges composers face today is the dual task of creating a work that is challenging yet rewarding for performers and audiences alike.

In this seven-movement suite whose texts speak to the horrors of war, Argento took listeners on a journey that explored many moods, from solemn and introspective to uplifting and hopeful. The brass resonated impressively in the orchestral opening to "Cenotaph,” which then segued into a movement in which the chorus expressed the excitement generated by a crowd gathering to watch a parade.

Argento possesses a remarkable gift for tone painting, one example of which was brought to light in a passage that spoke of "music in the midst of desolation.” This "Elegy” for the fallen also demonstrated how chorus and orchestra can combine to create moments of breathtaking splendor.

"Cenotaph” is a marvelous example of how an accomplished composer uses tension and release to tell a story through music. An extension of that is the brilliance with which Argento created dense textures to emphasize a point then thinned the musical fabric with airiness.

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