Textura: Review - A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Skylark Vocal Ensemble & Sarah Walker: A Christmas Carol
HMR
Skylark's Grammy-nominated Once Upon a Time was such an artistic success, it hardly surprises that the Boston-based vocal ensemble and its Artistic Director Matthew Guard would embark on creating another “story score.” Integrating classical music, vocal performance, and storytelling into a multi-faceted presentation has the potential to captivate, and when Skylark collaborates once again with professional storyteller Sarah Walker and composer Benedict Sheehan, this time for A Christmas Carol, the results are spellbinding.
Yes, the new work is based on the Dickens classic, and its release is timed to coincide with the Christmas season. But the recording is one that, like the author's tale, will sustain itself for years to come and invite annual revisits. Nothing about the project content is dated and neither is the multi-sensory treatment the collaborators have created for it. While Walker handles the narration, judiciously fashioned by Guard from Dickens' text in a way that preserves the integrity and essence of the original, the score is credited to Sheehan, with new arrangements of traditional carols and folk songs (“God Rest You Merry,” “Deck the Halls,” etc.) woven into the presentation. The music and story work hand-in-hand, with each reinforcing the impact of the story and their tone matching. Note, for example, the eeriness of the vocal backdrop accompanying Scrooge's perception of his door knocker as showing Marley's face and the deep, swelling vocal tones preceding the entrance of Marley's ghost into Scrooge's chambers. As the narrative content darkens, a sense of desolation permeates the musical treatment; in those moments where the story turns joyful, on the other hand, Sheehan imbues the music with uplift and rapture.
Balance is achieved in the sixty-six-minute recording between narration and music, with the vocal ensemble commenting on the action like a Greek chorus. Sheehan's score is thoughtfully sequenced so that certain carols partner with key moments in the storyline. The recording is in twenty-seven indexed parts, which makes the story easy to follow and allows one to appreciate the vocal artistry of individual Skylark members, whose names are identified in the parts where they're featured. “The Truth from Above,” for instance, is distinguished by the lustrous voices of tenor Nathan Hodgson and soprano Sophie Amelkin, and the heartache of the later “Little Fan” by the singing of tenor Robbie Jacobs and mezzo-soprano Helen Karloski. Memorable too are the stirring rendition of “Silent Night" featuring soprano Sarah Moyer plus mezzo-soprano Carrie Cheron's contribution to the lament “Coventry Carol.”
Just as she does on Once Upon a Time, Walker achieves a pleasing balance in her narration with a delivery that's neither too subdued nor theatrical. Subtle modulations of tone are all that's required when a story such as this one is already so powerful. In the early going, her narration conveys the coldheartedness of Scrooge, his avarice, and the contempt with which he regards and treats others; as the story advances, she expresses the sorrow and regret he comes to feel, his desperate desire to repent, and his elation at waking up on Christmas morning very much alive and eager to atone for his wrongdoings.
One thing above all else testifies to the greatness of this recording: Skylark, Walker, and Sheehan make this most familiar and shop-worn tale seem as if it's being heard anew. As this deeply moral tale advances, one grows increasingly moved by Scrooge's plight, and pity and compassion likewise mount as we witness the change in his character and his eventual epiphany. It would be a cold heart indeed that could be unmoved by the Cratchit family's humble gratitude for what they have rather than what they don't, their fond recollections of Tiny Tim during “My Little Child,” the disarming hymnal beauty of the traditional Welsh carol “Poverty,” and the glorious exultation of the closing “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.”
In liner notes, Guard states, “Writing this now, on the day that I've heard the final mastered recording for the first time, it's hard to believe that this particular arrangement of words and music has never existed before.” On that count he's correct: Skylark'sA Christmas Caroltruly does feel like something that's been with us for years, and certainly one easily envisions returning to this Skylark creation for years to come. He's also correct in noting that while the story proper is set in an English locale hundreds of years ago, its message about redemption, forgiveness, and charity is one that transcends any one era and speaks universally.
December 2021
https://www.textura.org/archives/s/skylark_christmascarol.htm