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Transfiguration at Christ Church Claremont links ancient and modern devotion

Headshot of David Cusworth
David CusworthThe West Australian
Michael Lukin conducts the Claremont Consort of Brianna Louwen, Bonnie de la Hunty, Gabrielle Scheggia, Amber Lister, Ry Charleson, Jason Kroll, David Woods and Chris McMillan, with Stewart Smith on organ in Transfiguration at Christ Church Claremont.
Camera IconMichael Lukin conducts the Claremont Consort of Brianna Louwen, Bonnie de la Hunty, Gabrielle Scheggia, Amber Lister, Ry Charleson, Jason Kroll, David Woods and Chris McMillan, with Stewart Smith on organ in Transfiguration at Christ Church Claremont. Credit: Claremont Consort

Claremont Consort channelled ancient and modern music and lyrics for Transfiguration — visions of the Heavenly Glory, at Christ Church on Saturday.

Timed to coincide with the church tradition of the Transfiguration — when Jesus appears to his disciples illuminated on a mountain top — the program was devised by director Michael Lukin to shed light on troubled times.

That theme was writ large in Hail, Gladdening Light, by British composer Charles Wood, his 1919 work reflecting a triumphal era of Anglican Christianity. Bright, rich textures in voice and organ (Stewart Smith) explored the vaulted heights of the building, soaring to a climactic descant from soprano Brianna Louwen.

Of that same era, Edward Elgar’s Benedictus opened in a simple organ figure, sustained by pedal notes, to lead in gently swirling, multi-layered harmonies, reflective and meditative. A soprano duet of Louwen and Bonnie de la Hunty was joined by full choir before splitting to male then female quartets, quietude in voice contrasting with surging drama in organ then joining in anthemic splendour for the concluding Gloria.

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Thomas Tallis’ O nata lux offered contrast in an introspective work from 1575, with spare harmonies and clear melodic lines, sung with restraint in expression and a palpable sense of awe.

Moving without pause into Nunc dimittis, by Charles Wood, summoned an exchange between male and female voices and then full choir in complex chords, devolving again to unison for the Gloria then spilling out to a broader palette before subsiding for Amen.

Michael Lukin.
Camera IconMichael Lukin. Credit: Michael Lukin

In both these liturgical pieces, the sparser Latin lyric seemed to cut through more than English — an interesting effect in an authentic ecclesiastical environment. Only the occasional “doof-doof” outside at the traffic lights, with motorbike counterpoint, dulled the impact.

Greater Love Hath No Man, by John Ireland (1912), led in gently by tenors Ry Charleson and Jason Kroll, exploded in full choir then settled back to solos from Louwen and bass David Woods, both pleasing and tuneful.

A second, fanfare-like eruption in organ triggered strident intervals in choir building to “His marvellous light” — with descant stretching dynamic and harmonic range — before subsiding to “I beseech your brethren”, a poignant hymn to sacrifice and service.

Alexander L’Estrange’s Magnificat and Nunc dimittis moved to the contemporary era in dense harmonies and major-minor transitions for an ebulliently defiant take on the Song of Mary (Magnificat), with rhythmic organ riffs and hints of Broadway. There was variety also in interplay between a cappella and accompanied passages extending the dynamics, soaring to a majestic crushed-chord Amen.

Nunc dimittis then turned from belt to ballad, rising to a climax in “light to lighten the Gentiles”, then falling to pathos for “to be the glory of thy people Israel”, and a cool jazz Amen.

Ancient and modern combined for O Oriens — “O Dayspring, splendour of the light eternal” — a foretelling of Christmas set first by Carlo Gesualdo in 1603 and Cecilia McDowall in 2012.

Sublime melody in sopranos cascaded from voice to voice in gentle harmonies, through altos Gabrielle Scheggia and Amber Lister, to tenors Charleson and Kroll, to basses Chris McMillan and Woods; ending on a high, irresolute chord that could have been written as a segue to McDowall’s more complex harmonies.

A similar sense of the sacred echoed through the contemporary reworking, a delicate touch from Lukin on the podium drawing precision and restraint from the singers; discord on discord combining in kaleidoscopic effect.

Michael Lukin conducts the Claremont Consortwith Stewart Smith on organ in Transfiguration at Christ Church Claremont.
Camera IconMichael Lukin conducts the Claremont Consortwith Stewart Smith on organ in Transfiguration at Christ Church Claremont. Credit: Claremont Consort

Finally, Hubert Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens returned to the muscular Christianity at the top of the bill, an organ introduction worthy of a new Jerusalem mixing bombast and piety with a mellifluous chorale for an oratorio ambience; generous in sound and sentiment to reflect the twin sirens of the lyric, “voice and verse”.

The last stanza, “O may we soon again renew that song”, led in a paean to faith, hope and love, tapping the expansive mood of Parry’s era, rising to a triumphal final phrase, “To live with Him, and sing in endless morn of light”.

In encore, Lukin joined the choir in Moses Hogan’s This Little Light of Mine. Over a wordless chorus, De la Hunty found a space between baroque and jazz, answered by Kroll with echoes of Hollywood, before Woods opened up the lower register, Gospel-style, in celebration to ice the devotional cake.

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