11:15am | For nearly a quarter of a century, the Long Beach Chorale has been presenting exciting choral works. This weekend, on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m., the chorale is presenting two 20th century masterpieces at Grace First Presbyterian Church.
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem” arose from the ashes of World War I, when fears of a second world war were spreading. It is, fundamentally, a prayer for peace that draws on both secular and religious sources, with words primarily in English. American poet Walt Whitman’s words are used, and British politician John Bright’s speech, an effort to prevent the Crimean War, is also quoted.
The work is dramatic and full of grandeur, depicting the pain and suffering of conflict, yet it has within it a profound hope that human beings can transcend their violent leanings and connect with the sublime
The evening concludes with Estonian composer Arvo Part’s most well known work, Fratres. Fratres is transcendent. With careful use of harmony, Part has the ability to reach past the intellect and touch the deepest parts of ourselves.
For the last eight years Eliza Rubenstein has held the baton for the Long Beach Chorale and, under her leadership, has expanded its already broad repertoire. She sparkles with enthusiasm and a genuine love of music.
I asked her to describe Williams’ work.
Eliza: Vaughan Williams is, of course, a neo-Romantic at heart, but this piece does a masterful job of blending the lush harmonies and emotional range of Romanticism with the edge and excitement of the 20th century. It’s at times stunningly gorgeous, at times downright chilling.
Sander: Let’s talk about Fratres! Part has grown into a very popular contemporary composer. What is it about his work that you find appealing?
Eliza: I find it utterly mesmerizing. Part has a knack for creating works in which sounds and harmonies shift and evolve in gradual and incremental ways, without grand gestures or big moments, but with incredible profundity and poignancy. Listening to Part seldom leaves one humming memorable melodies, but it almost always leaves one feeling spiritually transformed in some ineffable way.
His “Stabat Mater” is the one that kills me, along with the “Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten.” I love this quote about Part from Steve Reich: “His music fulfills a deep human need that has nothing to do with fashion.”
Sander: That sounds exactly right!
Eliza: And Caitlin, incidentally, is wonderful.
Sander: Tell me about her.
Eliza: I met her when I was an instructor and she was a student at the Colburn School of Music; she’s now a student in their professional studies program. She’s been the concertmaster of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, an extremely fine ensemble of talented young players. She was also the concertmaster of the Seattle Youth Symphony, and she’s been featured on NPR’s “From the Top.” When I heard her perform this piece with the YMFDO, I immediately asked her if she’d be interested in reprising it with us.
Sander: Did you grow up in a “musical” home?
Eliza: Oh, yes. My parents met as graduate students in music (music history for her, composition and theory for him), and my sister is an accomplished pianist and harpsichordist. We grew up singing four-part harmony around the piano.
Sander: Were you involved with music performance in school?
Eliza: Yes, and I played violin (later viola as well) and sang with a very fine children’s chorus as a kid.
Sander: How did you eventually decide to study music in college?
Eliza: It took me a while! I entered (and, actually, left) Oberlin as an English major, but roughly midway through my second year there, I realized that being a spectator at all the wonderful concerts the conservatory offered wasn’t enough for me. I had the good fortune to cross paths with an outstanding choral conductor who took me seriously when I showed up in his office one day to ask how one began the process of becoming a conductor.
After Oberlin, I moved west to pursue graduate studies at UCI, thinking I’d be here for two years and then head back to the Midwest. That was almost 17 years ago. Turns out I really, really like being warm.
Sander: My wife is from Minnesota, so I understand! Now, what is it about conducting that so captivates you?
Eliza: It’s the perfect blend for me [of] music, text, performance and teaching. I’m not sure I’d be nearly so content if any of the four were missing from my daily work. And the fifth element, of course, is all the wonderful musicians (volunteers, professionals, students) with whom I get to experience the great music of the past and today.
Sander: Conducting has gone through eras of what I’d call activism and conservatism, where cherished classics were being deconstructed and reinvented. Has that held any appeal for you?
Eliza: A big question. I’m going to skirt it slightly: I’ve long felt that my purpose on this Earth, musically, at least, is not primarily to reinvent the classics or to strip them down to their most authentic roots, but to act as a musical matchmaker, a choral yenta, who introduces audiences to music they might not otherwise have known or liked. Every musical organization worries about how to bring people to their music, but I’m equally interested in bringing music to people.
Sander: Let’s talk about the group, if you don’t mind. Where was the group when you arrived, and where it is now?
Eliza: They had already established themselves under the direction of founder Mark Barville as one of the preeminent choral ensembles in Long Beach. I like to think that we’ve continued the trajectory of improving our performance technically and musically and of expanding our repertoire and our audience. We reached a milestone last spring when we performed Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem” and earned the distinction of “best performance of the music season” when Jim Ruggirello made his year-end list.
When I began working with the LBCCO, I was also still the assistant supervisor of the Irvine Animal Care Center. I spent many years working in animal sheltering and dog training before I decided to become a full-time musician. I even wrote a book. [smiles]
Sander: You weren’t trying to get dogs to sing, were you? I’ve tried that, and it never works.
Eliza: Oh, I had the world’s most incredible singing dog. He was an odd asymmetrical lab mix named Sebastian (after guess who), and I’m not kidding you when I say that he could recognize pieces, composers and performers. Bach was his very favorite composer. Seriously, this dog was uncanny.
Sander: So, you taught your dog the classics?
Eliza: I didn’t have to! I think he was born knowing them. He just KNEW THINGS that dogs aren’t supposed to know. He had very clear preferences regarding performance styles, and he ALWAYS recognized Bach. His tastes evolved as he aged: Initially, Handel; by his dotage, Poulenc and Stravinsky.
The freakiest story of all, which I’ll condense with difficulty, was that one day he discovered the music of George Crumb and began a years-long love affair with Crumb specifically (i.e., little interest in other similar composers.) Mind you, [this is] music that most adult humans wouldn’t be able to grasp.
Much later, after idly wondering for a long time why Crumb held this particular fascination for him, I happened to read a New Yorker article about the premiere of Crumb’s newest work, “Mundus Canis,” dedicated to the dogs in his life because, as the article revealed, Crumb was probably the biggest and most passionate dog lover among contemporary composers. How did my dog know that? We’ll never know….
A series of later connections led to George Crumb sending Sebastian and me an autographed score of “Mundus Canis” with his best wishes. [smiles] I’m not new-agey or even religious, but Sebastian was some sort of spirit guide. That dog was amazing.
Sander: Not to regress, but is there anything special our readers should know about this weekend’s performances?
Eliza: I would simply encourage people to take a leap of faith and buy a ticket for this weekend, regardless of whether they’re familiar with the “Dona Nobis Pacem” or with Vaughan Williams.
Here’s a confession: I barely knew this piece before a year ago, and now I can’t imagine how I made it this long without it. It’s simply magnificent music, and I can virtually guarantee that our audience will be glad they came to know it.
—
More information about the Long Beach Chorale can be found at LongBeachChorale.org. Grace First Presbyterian Church is located at 3955 Studebaker Road, where Studebaker and Los Coyotes converge.
Sebastian, Eliza Rubenstein’s singing dog, which had an uncanny love for particular composers. Photo courtesy of Eliza Rubenstein.