Reena Esmail – Exaltations
Cathedral Choral Society; Steven Fox
Acis APL78314 (acisproductions.com/reena-esmail-exaltations-cathedral-choral-society-fox)
Young American composer Reena Esmail presents three rather short numbers that are unconventional in ways that suggest a different, looser approach to writing liturgical pieces for the Christian Church. None of these pieces are underlaid with the usual prayers found in similar church pieces, but these Exaltations have very minimal texts which are only words and short Mass fragments that however serve in repetition and emphasize the basic impetus to be both joyous and contemplative.
The forces employed are a large mixed choir, four soloists who only sing in the second of the three parts, and a brass quintet. The music is in a readily approachable liturgical style universal in Christian religious cultures throughout the latter part of the 20th century, being mostly tonal, though not simply diatonic. There is a similarity to the music of Holst, who was influenced by his studies in East Indian music, in its feel and harmony. Esmail is of East Indian extraction, and she has almost surreptitiously included a technical element of East Indian Classical Music, in that each of these pieces is in a different Raga, or melodic framework, from the Indian tradition. This influences the mainly homophonic tone setting, although very subtly.
The performance and recording are first class, and I suspect the whole project, recorded live at the National Presbyterian shrine Washington D.C. was conceived by Stephen Fox, director of the Cathedral Concert Society Choir. He has impressed in recent years with his Rachmaninoff Project, and in helping to resuscitate music by Ethel Smythe.
This is a most interesting curio, I just wish there was more of it.
