Family Weekend Music Showcase concert: Welcoming and beautiful

To cap off the Saturday programming of Duke’s Family Weekend, the Music Department showcased 11 pieces of music — spanning from combination chorale and chamber orchestra performances to string quartets — Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in Baldwin Auditorium. The event was primarily intended for visiting friends and families but provided a wonderful, graceful experience to everyone in the Duke community.

The performance was introduced by Dr. Leo Ching, Schiff Family Dean of Humanities and the Arts. His remarks were personable and sincere, demonstrating the community's passion for the arts and their appreciation of all who make Duke arts what it is. Ching even quipped about his personal lack of musical ability – both a humanizing anecdote and an invitation to all of those in the audience who might share his lack of aptitude to fully invest themselves in what they’re hearing.

The performance began with a rendition of Bach’s cantata formulation of “Gloria in excelsis Deo,” a traditional Christmas piece, performed by Duke Chorale and the Duke Chamber Orchestra. This rendition served as a fitting gateway into the rest of the performances, showcasing a smaller orchestra, a complex piece and the entire vocal power of the chorale. 

This immediately contrasted with the moving student string quartet and their performance of the first movement of “Op. 76” by Haydn. The quartet maintained a presence from their balcony position that wasn’t overshadowed by the size of the first piece. Their performance was unrelentingly impressive.

Chorale again took the stage alongside the full Duke University Wind Symphony. They performed “The Promise of Living,” a relatively recent piece compared to the previous two. The piece highlighted the deeper voices in the chorale, which were paired with higher pitches from the wind instruments. Of the pieces performed, while beautiful, this worked the least for a layman like myself. It felt more like the chorale and the symphony were fighting rather than in harmony. This is especially in comparison to the following, and ironically named, piece, “Sleep” — composed by Eric Whitacre.

While it probably would be more fitting as a finishing piece, “Sleep” was an appropriate ending to the chorale and symphony/orchestra joint efforts. It transformed from the loudest of all of the pieces to a gentle, repetitious lullaby that soothed the audience into the next pairing of pieces: “But why, why make me suffer” from “The Marriage of Figaro” (Mozart) and the “Evening Prayer” from “Hansel and Gretel” (Engelbert Humperdinck). 

Both pieces were operatic duets performed by members of Duke Opera Theater in collaboration with Duke Wind Symphony, with “But why, why make me suffer” being the standout. It was joyously comedic and beautifully performed – one of the more unifying performances of the night. “Evening Prayer” was equally competent in its production but felt like a piece that centered the symphony over the two vocalists. These two performances led to the greatest piece of the night — “Heart on Fire” by Viet Cuong.

Simultaneously swelling, triumphant and soothing, “Heart on Fire” showed off both what the symphony and what Duke Music can be. The piece’s beginning is centered around the xylophone — which was, I believe, unintentionally projected along the back wall of the auditorium due to some unique lighting reflections. Being able to get a unique vantage point on the performance through that projection illuminated the intentionality and care taken by each performer. It was an unexpected visual complement to an already auditorily pleasing event.