St. John Divine puts on Mahler 8

[barry guerrero]

https://www.stjohndivine.org/visit/calendar/events/music/12964/great-choir-gustav-mahlers-symphony-no-8

[James Meckley]

This is a tragic mismatch if ever there was one! The Cathedral of St. John the Divine—the largest Gothic cathedral in the world—has a T-60 reverb time of seven-and-a-half seconds in the summer and eight seconds in the winter. It'll make a sonic mess of this or any other Mahler symphony.

On the plus side, the cathedral owns a custom-made eighty-inch Paiste sun gong which could probably be pressed into service.

James

[ChrisH]

has a T-60 reverb time of seven-and-a-half seconds in the summer and eight seconds in the winter.

James

My lord! 7-8 seconds, and you want about 1.8-2.0 for Mahler. Wow!

I bet some chant would sound divine in that cathedral.

[barry guerrero]

Are you serious about the 80" tam-tam, because Paiste DOES make those?

If they're using it, I'm going!  I'll take a red-eye to N.Y.  It'll be up to conductor or the players, as the Manhattan School of Music could certainly schlep their own tam-tam over there.  Any chance you could snoop around on this topic? I'll see if I can't find contact info. for the conductor and ask this question in a polite and short-winded e-mail. I'd really like to know.

Barry

[James Meckley]

Are you serious about the 80" tam-tam, because Paiste DOES make those?

Yes, I'm serious about the eighty-inch Paiste. I saw it while visiting the cathedral several years ago. I assume they still own the beast—it would be hard to give up such a unique instrument. On another positive note, the cathedral organ, which was damaged in a fire in late 2001, has recently been put back into service.

I must mention a film I saw last night. Philippe Petit, the Frenchman who walked on a tight-rope stretched between the two towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974, is currently artist-in-residence at the cathedral. In that role, he gives lectures, does demonstrations, and—at one point—changed lightbulbs in the cathedral's ceiling. The story of his insane but inspiring high-wire project has just been re-told in a film called The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was released on 3D Blu-ray yesterday and it's a stunner! I'm not normally a fan of 3D movies, but this is the finest exemplar of the medium I can imagine. I have a bit of acrophobia, and I had to look away from the screen at several points. The film didn't get a lot of press, but seek it out if you can. It's a great bit of New York history, and especially poignant now that the towers are gone.

James

[James Meckley]

Any chance you could snoop around on this topic?

Barry,

Although most of the personnel for this concert will come from the Manhattan School of Music, the conductor, Kent Tritle, is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. I'm sure he can answer any questions you might have about the production and his plans (if any) for the eighty-inch Paiste tam-tam.

I see he's planning to follow this up in April with a performance of David Briggs's organ arrangement of Mahler 8 (for organ, chorus, and soloists). That should be a humdinger!

James

[waderice]

Back in the early 1970's when I was a member of Washington National Cathedral's Cathedral Choral Society, we did M8 with the Washington Choral Arts Society, and players from the Washington, DC National Symphony.  From where I was in Chorus 1, it was impossible to tell whether or not Mahler's torrents of sound got swallowed up, but at fortissimo climaxes during Part I, it was interesting to see how some people in the audience reacted, but those individuals were closer to the front than in other locations throughout the edifice.  At the time of the performance, the cathedral nave had two years yet to be fully completed and enclosed.  A temporary wooden back wall of sorts was constructed about two-thirds of the way back (as I recall) to keep construction dust out of the portion of the cathedral that was being used for services and concerts, as well as to keep the climate control in check.  So I presume that the temporary wooden back wall helped to keep the acoustical nightmare of performing M8 under some control.

Wade