By Howard Tuvelle

NEWTOWN — SPECIAL TO THE NEWS—TIMES
It must be said that St. Rose of Lima Church was a fitting and apt place for the performance of a Requiem. At a time when the church is in mourning for the recent deaths by terrorists in Spain, the Chorale, accompanied by its own orchestra of 25 instrumentalists, gave a performance of Luigi Cherubini's (1760-1842) "Requiem in C Minor," on Sunday, March 14.

High above the altar was a crucifix, the suffering Jesus, overlooking those in the totally filled sanctuary, as the Requiem began. From its mournfully lyrical opening, by the bassoon and cellos, the "Introitus: Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them," unfolded with a sustained and solemn mood. It seemed reverently apropos. The Chorale entered with a gentle and exquisite pianissimo. Their control and dynamics proved exemplary, a high mark of the afternoon's entire performance.

By the third movement, or "Dies Irae," with its opening blast of brass and resonant sounding gong, evoking the end of the world, the music aggressively intensified – yet not without prolonged sections of gentle tenderness. Textually it is the longest movement of the work, full of pleadings and supplications, laced with vocal and instrumental surges and attacks of fortissimos and sudden pianissimos. Even if all the vocal entrances were not razor sharp, it still requires vocal fortitude as well as plentiful technique to achieve the many, often abrupt, decrescendos so finely wrought by the singers.

Cherubini's Requiem combines all the dramatic flair and harmonic excitement of an emerging new homophonic style, developing during the composer's life. Music had formerly been composed and dominated by strict polyphonic rules (one melody overlapping another, as in a round). The new style, we now call "Romantic," began to consider the vertical possibilities (as in a chord or solid mass of sound).

Of course the Requiem still betrayed traces of the old polyphonic style, as in the section "Offertorium: Domine Jesu," but only to enhance the composer's larger concept of sound.
The Chorale proved that it is a master ensemble of voices.
They can whisper, they can breeze through the complexities of the mid-range, and they can soar in the high registers or whatever tessitura, but always in the service of the music.

The second half of the program was given over to the music of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), and included several choruses from his various operas. The Chorale handled these with ease. One not a chorus, however, was Verdi's setting for the "Lord's Prayer." In this the singers achieved a remarkable beauty and blending of tone, with an expressive resonance that appropriately set the mood for such a religious entreaty.

Of course there was the familiar "Anvil Chorus" from "Il Trovatore," complete with clanging hammering (probably a drum stick on a bell!).

The "Triumphal Scene" from "Aida," concluded the afternoon's performance, and it justly elicited an instant standing ovation.
If a most common observation may be made, the entire performance demonstrated first-rate singing from a first-rate chorale, with a first-rate director! What more?