Pure Messengers of Song
Vienna Boys Choir
WHEN YOU THINK OF the Vienna Boys Choir, you usually think of their young age, high voices, cute uniforms, and rich tradition. Going to see them is a cultural must simply because of their world renown. But this time there was something else that stood out: their purity as performers and the intrinsic nature of their songs.
These pubescent boys receive special training, travel the world, perform in the best musical venues, and get a lot of attention simply by reputation. In this sense, they are not unlike professional athletes who are admired and sought after wherever they go. What is refreshingly different about this group, however, is their innocence.
As they come on stage, while they perform, and when they take bows, there are no antics, no self-gratuitous behavior, no vaunting of personality. All of them remain demure, untainted, soulfully transparent. During the songs, they stand with legs together, arms next to their sides, eyes fixed obediently on the choirmaster. With necks craned slightly forward, their bodies sway naturally—never ostensibly—to the music. Their faces evince pure musical effort: skillful, concentrated, long-practiced effort. And when they finish, they simply stand there with shining cheeks and wide eyes as if surprised to see a roused audience offering thunderous thanks of cheers and applause.
Vienna Boys Choir
Little do they know perhaps that the lavish response they receive is due, not only to the music they bring, but to the purity with which they bring it. At heart, everyone is touched by purity because, despite pressures and appearances, we are all pure at heart. When we show appreciation for it, we are also showing appreciation for the courage of those who demonstrate it. It’s one of the reasons we find children so endearing. Not only because they’re adorable, but because they are so unaffected about just ‘being’.
The same can be said about the music that was performed Wednesday night at the Gaillard Auditorium. Because it is the holiday season, and because the Vienna Boys Choir performs primarily church music (even though it is not affiliated with a church), this program included many religious-based themes. But there was something different about it—which seems to stem from the influence of Artistic Director Gerald Wirth and Choirmaster Andy Icochea Icochea.
Andy Icochea Icochea
For one thing, out of 27 pieces that were performed, Mr. Icochea Icochea wrote five of them and arranged four more, while Mr. Wirth wrote one and arranged 13. In other words, they had their hand in 23 out of the 27—and I’m glad they did. Here’s a telling excerpt from the program about Mr. Wirth’s compositional approach: “He likes to use mythological, philosophical, and spiritual texts as a starting point… and often combines texts from different cultures. His translations strive to convey the underlying emotion of the original text.”
And regarding one of Mr. Icochea Icochea’s compositions, Et luxe in tenebris lucet (And a light shines in the darkness): this “motet is an examination of the beginning of the Gospel of St. John, with a particular emphasis on the light that is mentioned. He employs a theme vaguely in the Gregorian tradition… The light is generated by overtone singing, which increases toward the end of each phrase; the light becomes brighter, as it were.”
Gerald Wirth
In other words, both men take an esoteric approach to the music they conduct and compose: they extract the symbolism of the text and convey its inner meaning through the music of the voices. This makes for more than formal or holiday church music; it makes for a spiritual experience. Some of the best examples were Mr. Icochea Icochea’s melodic, meditative interpretation of Psalm 61 (Hear my prayer), Mr. Wirth’s stirring arrangement of Yulduz Usmanova’s Shoch va Gado (The King and the Beggar), and Franz Schubert’s transcendent Nachthelle (Night Brightness) which outwardly tells of a moonlit night but inwardly depicts an emotional epiphany or flash of enlightenment (“Inside of me, there is such a miraculous light, filling me, overflowing… I cannot contain with my heart all this rich light; it wants out, it must out, the last barrier breaks”).
I wanted to avoid the word “angelic” in this article, simply because it has become almost hackneyed when describing the Vienna Boys Choir. But in this case, it is apropos not only to the young voices, but to the quality of emotion that came through them. It is the same quality of emotion you hope to encounter with all the arts—certainly the best art—and which we have come to expect from the world-class events brought to us by Jason Nichols and the Charleston Concert Association.
This was a cultural highlight in the year and a fitting start to the season of holy days.
The Vienna Boys Choir comprises four choirs that tour the globe. We saw the Schubertchor choir led by Andy Icochea Icochea who became choirmaster in 2005. The four choirs are in constant rotation: two are on tour at any given time, and two remain in Vienna, one to train new boys and learn fresh repertoire, and one that performs regular services at the Augustinerkirche in the Hofburg Palace, the ancient Austrian imperial chapel where they’ve sung for centuries. The artistic director of the Vienna Boys Choir is Gerald Wirth.
Learn more about the Vienna Boys Choir. Learn more about the Schubertchoir.
Learn more about Andy Icochea Icochea. Learn more about Gerald Wirth.
See what’s coming next at the Charleston Concert Association.
Super review of a special music program which we saw in Vienna a number of years ago. Your depth of understanding, and explaining all the facets of their music, is much appreciated. I especially appreciated your explanation of the composers’ approach to their music.