By GAIL LOWE
MELROSE—Nearly every seat was taken at Memorial Hall on the night of Saturday, March 3 when the Melrose Symphony Orchestra performed French masterworks composed by Lili Boulanger, Claude Debussy and Maurice Durufle for an adoring audience.
Under the capable baton of Yoichi Udagawa, the musicians and vocalizations by New World Chorale moved ticket holders to their feet at the close of the concert, using thunderous applause to signify their overwhelming approval. In keeping with the coming change of season, it seemed fitting that the evening open with Boulanger’s “Of a Spring Morning,” what one might consider joyful anticipation of Earth’s re-awakening.
According to the program notes, Boulanger was born in Paris to a family of musicians and composed “Of a Spring Morning” in 1918 just two months before her death. Though her life was brief, she died at age 24, she won the Prix de Rome (a scholarship awarded by the French government between 1663 and 1968) when she was 19.
The selection is in the French impressionistic style and Boulanger used various colors in the wood section contrasted by brass and percussion, which emote the feeling of dawn breaking. The tones are airy, bright and festive. Following Boulanger’s work, the orchestra played three of Debussy’s nocturnes suggesting specific landscapes, including nuages (clouds), fetes (festivals) and sirens (sea). Female singers from New World Chorale joined the orchestra to portray the sirens.
Following intermission, the orchestra and Chorale returned to the stage to perform Durufle’s “Requiem.” The work, commissioned in 1941 and dedicated to the memory of his father, represents a Catholic Mass for the dead based entirely on Gregorian themes. The piece includes an introit, kyrie, Domine Jesu Christe, sanctus and Pie Jesu. Featured was soloist Cindy M. Vredeveld, who stepped forward to offer her beautiful mezzo soprano voice. Vredeveld has performed with the Boston Pops and Boston Symphony Orchestra as well as the Lexington and Concord Symphony Orchestras.
A family concert scheduled for Sunday, April 7, will feature the Francis Scott Key’s National Anthem, Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No 5, 1st movement and Sergei Prokoviev’s “Peter and the Wolf” with James Oosterman narrating. Rounding out the 2023-2024 season, a May Pops Finale will be held on Saturday, May 4 and feature works by Dimitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, John Williams and famous composers. The French Masterworks concert was sponsored by Century 21.