Voices of Connection: 05/04 Brahms: Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren

From guest curator James Bassi

Welcome back!

Today, for Part 2 of my reflections on high school choral singing, I must again acknowledge the legacy of my high school choral director, Rachel Batchelder. Many of us know the devastating blows our country has endured with the systemic neglect — or elimination —of music in our schools. Well, way back in the mid-to-late 1970s, I was fortunate to find a real champion in “Mrs. B.” She often encouraged her singers to audition for District and All-State Chorus: these were, and are, competitive opportunities to perform in concerts with some of the best young musicians from one’s home state. The profoundly beautiful piece you will hear today is one I sang in a Massachusetts All-State concert. This first introduced me to the music of Brahms. Hold that thought.

Several years later, in NYC, I began working with Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, a great American choral conductor, teacher, and musical icon, with whom I was to collaborate for more than three decades as choral singer and accompanist, with productions for the New York Philharmonic and his New York Choral Artists. Joe’s passing in 2019 still leaves a huge personal and artistic void for many of us. The full circle I will now complete for you is this: in my senior year of high school, Joe was our guest music director for Massachusetts All-State Choir, conducting us in Zoltan Kodaly’s Te Deum.

Here is a wonderful performance with Joe conducting one of the single most beautiful short choral works of Brahms. Playing the organ is another immortal musician, Nancianne Parrella, a generous colleague and peerless keyboard artist, who, sadly, also departed in 2019.

-- James Bassi

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