Piffaro presents 'La Nochebuena'

Actors and musicians don’t have to believe in the literal truth of the religious beliefs expressed in their texts any more than they have to believe in ghosts to present an affecting version of A Christmas Carol. They just have to work their way into the feelings behind the works they’re performing and communicate those feelings to their audience. Piffaro reproduced the religious world of late Renaissance Spain along with the musical world they reproduced with their period instruments.

Well-chosen program

Piffaro’s musical choices were probably responsible for some of that effect. Piffaro built the program around a mass by a priestly composer, Tomas Luis de Victoria, who was noted for his “naturally sunny disposition.” The Christianity transmitted through his music felt collected and benign, with none of the soul-wrenching tension found in some versions.

The guest sackbut group, Dark Horse Consort, was another major factor. The sackbut is the forerunner of the modern trombone and its narrower bore and smaller bell produce a less brassy sound, with more of the expressiveness of a human voice. The extra sackbuts contributed restrained sonorities that added depth to the overall mood.

The guest vocalist, Jessica Beebe, sang the music written for church services with a full soprano that combined choir boy purity with adult color and force. In the nativity section, she switched to a throatier delivery that suited the bouncier music of the countryside. The song in praise of the Virgin Mary, "Senhora del Mundo" ("Lady of the World"), sounded like a song a group of villagers might sing to an esteemed lady of the manor.

Piffaro’s artistic directors like to design entertaining formats that place Renaissance music in its historical context. They based this concert on the traditional Spanish Christmas Eve of the period — a “nochebuena” that included a midnight mass and an all-night round of feasting and drinking.

Varied and entertaining

Victoria’s mass, Missa Alma Redemptoris mater, provided the foundation for the program but they didn’t present it as a separate piece. They embedded each section of the mass in a group of related pieces and maintained the variety of pace, mood, and orchestration that keeps modern concert audiences happily engrossed.

Liturgical music alternated with traditional songs that were the equivalent of modern Christmas carols. Vocal music alternated with instrumental pieces played on the kaleidoscope of Renaissance instruments Piffaro’s versatile musicians have mastered.

Christa Patten’s harp solos added another set of colors and nuances to the religious mood. Recorders, bagpipes, and percussion all had their moments. At the beginning of the concert, Beebe entered from the back of the hall as she sang, with Grant Herreid following her up the aisle as he accompanied her on the small Renaissance guitar.

I feel I’ve had a good day any time I get to hear the cornetto — a wooden instrument with a trumpet mouthpiece and finger holes like a recorder. At this concert I got to hear two. Dark Horse Consort includes two cornetto players, Kiri Tollaksen (who’s a frequent Piffaro guest) and Alex Opsahl. In addition to Tollaksen’s solo work, the cornettos added a thin bright line to all the ensembles they joined. The cornetto was a favorite instrument in its time because of its affinity with the human voice and there were times when it did indeed sound like an extra voice had joined a vocal piece.