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the reviews for Cradle Song and the Bluegrass CD [see the NEWS AND EVENTS tab]

Read about the recent premiere of "Music for
Heroines"

Listen to a radio interview about "The World Beloved:
A Bluegrass Mass" at Minnesota Public Radio

Article about 'Bluegrass Mass' from The American Composers Forum

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Review of Cyprus, First Impressions from Kathodik.it. (PDF)

English Version

Italian Version

Review: 'Bluegrass Mass' amazing
William Randall Beard, Special to the Star Tribune
January 22, 2007
Carol Barnett's amazing "The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass" was given its world
premiere by the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers in collaboration with the bluegrass band
Monroe Crossing at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater on Friday night.
This was not an easy partnership. The impulse behind bluegrass is improvisation. It is
virtually unheard of for bluegrass musicians to play from scores. Yet Barnett's music was
fully notated. But her music was idiomatic enough and the musicians flexible enough that
it sounded perfectly natural.
Much of the credit for the success of the piece has to go to librettist Marisha Chamberlain
who took the Catholic liturgy and transformed it into a text in the bluegrass tradition. The
mass movements were separated! by verses of a ballad that told the story of Adam and
Eve, but Chamberlain replaced the notion of original sin with that of original blessing and
created a work of life-affirming celebration.
Barnett traversed the two idioms quite ingeniously, bringing out the best in both
ensembles. The contrasts between the sophisticated classical choral sound and the
jubilant bluegrass harmonies were effectively used to make the text come alive.
Occasionally, as in the Kyrie, the instrumentalists felt straight jacketed by the complex
liturgical forms. But the triumphant Gloria that followed was an exuberant success.
Likewise, the Credo, Chamberlain's explication of the traditional text, became a powerful
Gospel number. This mass was compelling statement of faith that ended on a note of
sublime grace and peace.
In the first half, Monroe Crossing cut loose with a set of their own. Their performances of
traditional bluegrass and gospel as well as several original numbers! had the audience
cheering.
The concert opened with ! another world premiere, "Psalm Dances" by Daniel S. Godfrey,
a serious and thoughtful work for chorus and chamber ensemble. Godfrey has an
individual, even quirky voice that uses elements from jazz to atonality to encompass the
Psalms' diverse emotions from joy and lament. He made particularly effective use of the
percussion. But this was music that engaged the mind more than the heart.
The Ensemble Singers handled Godfrey's complex score effectively, if not with ease.
They seemed to be working very hard. In the mass, they sang as if they had been to the
manner born. Director Philip Brunelle was in his element conducting these two works of
profound spirituality.
William Randall Beard is a Minneapolis writer.
© Copyright 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

Concert review: Music in the Park by flashlight sounds all the more sweet
William Randall Beard, Special to the Star Tribune
May 11, 2004PARK0511

Sunday night's weather made the final concert of Music in the Park's 25th season all the more dramatic: The power went out at St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ. A call to the neighborhood brought candles and flashlights. Extension cords were run across the street to power lamps for the musicians.

Further lighting complications necessitated starting the first piece over. Despite these hardships, the quartet of violinist Steven Copes, concertmaster of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; cellist Anthony Ross and clarinetist Burt Hara, both first chairs in the Minnesota Orchestra, and pianist Pedja Muzijevic persevered valiantly.

The concert opened with a world premiere by Twin Cities composer Carol Barnett, commissioned to commemorate Music in the Park's anniversary. The title, "Among Friends," was appropriate to the occasion, and referred also to the composers who have influenced Barnett.

In the first movement, "After Schnittke," Barnett captured the 20th-century Russian's polystylistic idiom. There was a wealth of melodies piling upon each other, handled in creative and intriguing ways. In "Scherzo, After Shostakovich," she had that composer's more aggressive and dissonant mannerisms down pat, but she made very personal use of them. In the last movement, "Barcarolle/Lullaby," it was hard to miss the homage to Barnett's mentor, Dominick Argento.

This was an example of a great composer using tradition to fashion something individual and unique, not an academic composition, but emotional and entertaining music, with a sly wink at the audience. The quartet got the joke and played with infectious good humor as well as with passionate commitment. This audacious and engaging work deserved the standing ovation it inspired.

Flutist Julia Bogorad-Kogan, principal flute of the SPCO, joined the quartet for Webern's arrangement of Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9. In it, it was possible to hear the bonds of Romanticism being pushed to the breaking point. Webern's distinctive choice of instruments added complex sonorities full of flamboyant gestures for each of the performers, who responded in high style.

The same can be said for the last work, Schubert's Piano Trio in E flat Major, Op. 100, D 929. It charts a remarkable journey from a boisterous first movement to a dark and dramatic finale. Copes, Ross and Muzijevic were all quite at home in handling both the florid writing and the demand for legato playing. The piano took a central role and occasionally dominated the strings unfairly, but for the most part, an ideal balance of interaction was retained.

Volunteers and supporters of Music in the Park Series handled the concert challenges with aplomb. Nothing was permitted to get in the way of the excellent music making. All that is left is to wish the series well as it starts its second quarter-century.

Conductor Nicholas McGegan is usually associated with works of the Baroque and Classical periods. Last week he had success with a world premiere.

Carol Barnett's overture, "The People's Room," was commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the Minnesota State Capitol and had its premiere in the rotunda last Sunday.

By bringing in the choral group Kantorei, Barnett added an extra layer of meaning. The chorus begins singing the word "Welcome" in all the languages heard in the state, including Swedish, Norwegian, Hmong and Somali. This is followed by an Ojibwe response, echoing Native American rhythms. The overture concludes with a minimalist treatment of the line, "The rotunda is the people's room."

Given Barnett's decadelong stint as composer-in-residence with the Dale Warland Singers, it is not surprising that she made compelling, theatrical use of the voices. This became a thoughtful and moving premiere.

McGegan was on more familiar stylistic ground with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's premiere of Paul Wranitzky's Symphony in D, Op. 36. This rather schizophrenic piece alternates moments of classical elegance with tempestuous passages that presage the coming Romantic storm. The contrasts make this minor work all the more engaging, and the orchestra's playing made it sound more significant than it actually is.

The performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466, was a disappointment. This is one of Mozart's greatest concertos, dark and deeply emotional. McGegan led the orchestra in a performance crackling with passion, but pianist Robert Levin seemed part of a different performance, diffident and bloodless in interpretation. And his clowning antics at the keyboard were a major distraction.

The program also included pieces by Franz Schubert. The overture to "The Conspirators," D. 787, had the feeling of a German singspiel, but the crescendo was clearly indebted to Rossini. The entr'acte to the third act of "Rosamunde," D. 797, featured one of Schubert's most compelling melodies, and, like the overture, showed off the excellent wind section. These were charming trifles played with wit and style.