Concert Review of Tears of the Soul
Very Old Hits Make Engaging Concert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
March, 1998
The Twin Cities music scene received a breath of fresh air Thursday from a group specializing in the ancient, The Rose Ensemble for Early Music. Although Minnesotans love choral music, there are few opportunities to hear Renaissance music (of the 15th and 16th centuries), outside of university ensembles. There is practically no chance to hear medieval music. This situation is not for lack of interest - national early music groups like Anonymous 4 have a tremendous draw when they perform here - but rather, for lack of a local professional presence. Thursday's Rose Ensemble concert at the Basilica of Saint Mary made it clear that the picture is about to change. The ensemble showed itself to be a group that not only can competently sing the repertory, but also make concerts engaging and accessible.
The Rose Ensemble is the brainchild of artistic director Jordan Sramek. With the help of local soprano Maria Jette, Sramek presented a program that drew as much strength from its planning as from its harmonious singing. One of the reasons performances of early music fail to attract crowds is that they often pelt the audience with one obscure work after another. Not so with this group: Sramek never kept the same combination of singers on stage for two consecutive pieces. Gregorian chant was followed by Renaissance motets and the concert was interspersed with readings about female saints. Sramek also had Jette sing in only half the concert, allowing her rapturous and powerful voice to color the concert, not dominate it. Lastly, Sramek made the bold move to include a newly composed work, "Tears of the Soul," by local composer William Beckstrand. Combining 14th-century musical techniques of layering vocal lines with a contemporary harmonic vocabulary, Beckstrand created a spiritual and moving account of the Virgin Mary's suffering the loss of her Son. Jette sang expressively as Mary, while the choir uttered an almost hypnotic ostinato below her.