Caroling in Dallas: New York Polyphony sing the Christmas calendar

“We’ve decided to present the program without an intermission,” joked countertenor Geoffrey Williams, “so that you can get back to Cyber Monday shopping as soon as possible.” Mr Williams and his male vocal quartet New York Polyphony were featured Monday evening by the Dallas Chamber Music Society in what he called a “Christmas calendar” recital. New York Polyphony – featuring tenor Steven Caldicott Wilson, baritone Christopher Dylan Herbert, and bass Craig Phillips, in addition to Mr Williams – presented carols dating from the Medieval period to the present day, with texts covering much of the Advent season and its biblical lore. All joking aside, NYP’s performance was a thoughtful hour of respite from holiday-induced consumerist madness.

With no works lasting longer than a few minutes, the concert benefited from being presented without pause. The group stayed on stage from the first number to the last, taking short breaks every so often for one member (each took his turn) to speak to the audience about the next piece or two, during which time the other three slipped upstage for a brief water break. Not only did this cut down on the formality – “of course there should be an intermission, this is a classical event!” – it also greatly enhanced the flow of the performance, and the audience warmed to NYP more and more as the concert wound on.

The music on this program, tastefully chosen and smartly alternating between contemporary and Medieval or Renaissance songs throughout, had a decidedly English bent. In addition to works by Thomas Tallis and Richard Pygott (the latter a composer to Henry VIII), and pieces from anonymous English manuscripts, NYP sang music by Englishmen John Scott (b. 1956) and Andrew Smith (b. 1970). The echoes of Tudor polyphony in some of the contemporary works were fascinating, and it was an interesting experience for this English speaker to hear his language as captured at several points in its genesis.

Of the nearly 20 pieces sung, the ones most compellingly performed were those most recently composed. The quartet began with Mr Smith’s setting of Veni Redemptor Genitum, an Advent hymn that in this version blurred the boundaries between the open fifths and modal sonorities of the Medieval, with those same harmonies as used in much vocal music today. Mr Smith’s three other works on the program (Mr Williams dubbed him “our fifth member”, as he has been writing for NYP since its inception) were equally effective.

As if the roles of singers, masters of ceremony, program annotators (accessible and informative notes were provided by Mr Williams), and social media raconteurs (the final number was preceded by a lengthy pitch to find the group on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…) were not enough, two NYP members composed or arranged pieces on tonight’s program as well. Adam lay ybounden, a text that has been set over the years by composers including Britten, was heard in a version by Mr Williams, and Mr Phillips, the group’s bass, arranged several pieces as well (under his nom-de-plume Alexander Craig).

New York Polyphony were at their best in intimate moments, as in Lully, lullow: I saw a swete semly syght from the late-Medieval Ritson Manuscript. This carol, for the group’s two lowest voices, was sung as a true lullaby (its refrain ends “slepe softly now”). Messrs Phillips and Herbert paced the dynamics downward with each successive verse, and took increasingly longer pauses between verses, giving the impression of cautiously, lovingly putting a child to bed.

The recital ended with Mr Phillips’ arrangement of The darkest midnight in December, for which NYP set down their binders and sang from memory. A traditional and very charming O Little Town of Bethlehem (also a Phillips/Craig arrangement) was an endearing encore, and within minutes all four men were in the lobby selling and signing CDs. The break from holiday shopping now seemed a mirage, but it was nice while it lasted.