5 Things to Know about the Fresno Master Chorale’s upcoming performance of Dan Forrest’s ‘Creation’

---

Here are 5 Things to Know about the concert:

1.

It’s divided into a number of movements and written primarily in Latin, but don’t confuse it with the Masses of the old, grand composers.

Forrest offers 12 movements to trace the Christian concept of the universe. The first, before creation, suggests a time of the void . Subsequent movements include “The Dance Before Time,” and “A Lion Sings.” There’s a movement about light, and one about gardens. The world comes into being, and movements are devoted to birds and the sea, and finally, the creation of man and woman (using the Hebrew words).

The Latin Mass sings of the “majesty” of the heavens. Forrest sees that majesty in the movement of the spheres and the clockwork you can find in the organization of the planets and stars.

2.

Hamre’s best description of the musical style: It’s cinematic.

“You feel like you’re sitting back watching a movie. You close your eyes, and, my gosh, you will hear the birds soaring. You will hear the waves. You will feel them. By the end, you definitely will feel the joy.”

3.

There are two featured soloists.

One of them is well known to Fresno audiences: soprano Maria Briggs of Fresno State.

The other is David Grogan, a friend of Hamre’s, who sang the baritone solo at the Texas premiere of “Creation.”

Both are powerhouse soloists, Hamre says. They have to be, just to be heard over all those musicians.

4.

This is likely Forrest’s most sophisticated composition to date.

The piece isn’t just a lot of feel-good harmonies. Forrest offers his most sophisticated work to date, Hamre says. An example is a four part canon that uses a compositional technique involving multiple iterations of the same melody at different speeds. At one point, in the movement “Music of the Spheres,” a group sings at one tempo, and then another twice as fast, then another three times as fast, then four. The idea, Hamre says, is to show the great complexity of the universe with all the planets moving in sync. Think of those solar system models hanging in your childhood classrooms with all the planets taking different amounts of time to travel around the sun.

“It’s extraordinary,” she says.

5.

Be prepared to feel happy.

Hamre was a little nervous when she signed on to the new piece before it was done.

“You take a chance,” she says. “I knew I liked his music. I did not know exactly how wonderful it was going to be.”

The risk paid off. Be ready to be uplifted, she says.

“I kind of feel lucky because when you sign on to something and it isn’t done, you take a chance. I knew it was coming, and I knew I liked his music. I did not know exactly how wonderful it was going to be. This is the most joyful, exuberant piece of music I’ve ever run across.”

The Munro Review has no paywall but is financially supported by readers who believe in its non-profit mission of bringing professional arts journalism to the central San Joaquin Valley. You can help by signing up for a monthly recurring paid membership or make a one-time donation of as little as $3. All memberships and donations are tax-deductible. The Munro Review is funded in part by the City of Fresno Measure P Expanded Access to Arts and Culture Fund administered by the Fresno Arts Council.