Erum Jaffrey
Arts Editor
Classical and contemporary songs about birds, titled “Bird Songs – Flights of Avian Fancy” were sung with glee at noon last Friday at Scripps College.
The performance was harmonized and presented by five faculty members: Anne Harley (soprano), Charles Kamm (tenor and harpsichord) and Rachel Huang (violin) from Scripps College, Ellen Rentz (soprano) from Claremont McKenna College and David Rentz (tenor and harpsichord) from Chaffey College.
The concert began with four singers standing in each corner of Balch Auditorium.
They began with a vocal round of “Summer is icumen in” in Middle English, translated as “Summer has come in,” and all joined on stage in unison with the soft melody of the song.
Fifteen musical pieces were performed, the earliest written circa 1270, with titles such as “The Nightingale,” “Ah, Robin, gentle Robin” and “As When the Dove.”
“When I first heard of the theme of ‘Bird Songs’, I was (intrigued) about what it was gonna be, but then they started making actual bird noises and had songs that referenced to birds in general, and I loved it,” said Alice Flood, sophomore sociology major at Scripps College.
“It was great to see the professors outside of the classroom performing their specialty,” she said.
Musical pieces were sung in Middle English, German, Italian and French and integrated humor in them, such as “Audite nova,” vocalizing about a German farmer with a fat goose.
“Le Chant des Oyseaux” amused the audience as singers added eccentric bird sounds like “cuckoo” and “tik tu tu” to the performance, creating an exciting atmosphere.
These bird sounds were stark contrast to the nostalgic dialogue of “As When the Dove” sung as opera with lyrics of “when he returns, no more she mourns.”
Lamentation continued with “II bianco e dolce cigno,” about a gentle swan dying.
The show was concluded by an a capella performance of “Blackbird,” originally by the Beatles.
This song resonated with the audience as one of the more recognizable pieces performed.
This concert was part of the Friday Noon Concert Series in collaboration with Scripps College and the Pomona music department including Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College and Pitzer College.
“I send out requests to ask who of the music faculty are ready to perform with something this semester and each semester it’s just a new set of concerts,” said Greg Jackson, concert manager for Scripps College.
“(Themes) are based on what the performers come up with, and it varies from classical to modern, to world music,” Jackson said.
More than 10 concerts are held per year, featuring the Claremont colleges faculty and students. All concerts are free and open to the public.
“People can come to these concerts to learn about the history of music and feel like a part of the community,” said Kayla Montaque, junior psychology major at Pitzer College.
The next Friday Noon Concert is today at 12:15 p.m., featuring Music of Barber and Mozart at Scripps College.
Erum Jaffrey can be reached at erum.jaffrey@laverne.edu.
