The Bermuda Festival -- The American Boychoir (James Litton, Musical Director) and (Matthew Schwinghammer, Accompanist) -- St. John's Church, Pembroke.

January 16, 17 and 19.

*** A graduate of The Westminister Choir School, Herbert Hoffman founded the Columbus Boychoir in 1937. In 1950, the burgeoning school moved to Princeton where it became closely associated with prestigious concert platforms in New York and Philadelphia, performing under such legendary conductors as Ormandy, Beecham, Leinsdorf and Bernstein. In 1980, the choir changed its name to The America Boychoir, and today nearly 80 students, representing 24 states and three Canadian provinces are enrolled. The American Boychoir is justly recognised internationally as one of the finest choral groups in the world. On Friday night, under the direction of James Litton, who supplied a helpful and interesting commentary throughout, and accompanied with great expertise by Matthew Schwinghammer, the young singers entertained an enthralled audience with a beautifully devised programme in which they encompassed four centuries of song and convincingly embraced an array of dramatically contrasted musical styles. The recital, divided into three distinct segments, began with a group entitled `Great Works For Boys' Voices Through The Centuries'. English composer Elizabeth Poston's `The Apple Tree' sung as a Processional, was our introduction to an evening of disciplined and refined music making. From Poston's 20th century setting we moved to the Classical Period with Mozart's `Veni Sancte Spiritus'. With excellent diction and that subtle phrasing so essential in even youthful Mozart -- the motet was written when the composer was only 12-years-old -- The American Boychoir gave an animated and vital performance of this sparkling little work. St. John's Church has fine acoustics. Seldom have they been used to such advantage as in the performance which followed of the sublime `Caligaverunt oculi mei' by 16th century Spanish composer Tomas Luis de Victoria. In order to simulate the aura of a Spanish Cathedral, James Litton dispersed the boys in groups throughout the church.

The text of the piece speaks of great suffering, `See if any pain is like unto my pain'. With excellent balance, blend and a superb quality of sound from the first trebles particularly, this was a performance of heartwrenching beauty, one of the highlights of the evening. This first selection, devoted entirely to sacred music, continued with admirable performances of two very technical demanding duets, `Ruft und Fleht den Himmel an' by Bach from his Cantata No 63 and `Surrexit pastor bonus' by Mendelssohn. `Songs From Many Nations' followed, with Anton Briones an impressive soloist in an arrangement of Handel's `O Had I Jubal's Lyre'. After `Ode To Music' composed for the last night of the Proms by Malcolm Williamson, Master of The Queen's Music, the choirboys gave a riveting performance of three Hungarian songs. From the rhythmic precision of Bardos' `Hej, Igazitsad' they moved to Kodaly's colourful `See The Gypsies' and from there to his starkly veiled `Mountain Nights' haunting in its wordless atmospheric splendour. With dance, dramatic gesture and drums, the first part of the programme ended with the pulsating rhythm of four very exciting songs from South Africa. After the intermission, the 40 young singers, with unflagging energy and a great sense of enjoyment, launched into a selection entitled `American Songs And Spirituals'. Even in some of the earlier works where there was obviously a need for restraint, and where there was an urgent concentration on tone quality, it was apparent that the American Boychoir produced a more robust sound than their European counterparts. This they certainly needed, particularly in their spirituals and in `Hollywood Medley', where their thrust was pure entertainment, and where with deliberate abandon and a completely different tone colour, they moved from Southern Plantation to Broadway. An arrangement of `The Stars And Stripes Forever' by Sousa, sung with patriotic fervour -- even by the Canadians -- ended the programme. Only after a well deserved encore `Oh When The Saints' did the concert come to a close. Congratulations to all those who made this very special event possible. This was the first visit of The American Boychoir to Bermuda and we certainly hope it will not be the last. Brilliant in concept and design, an enterprise here such as a national youth choir would not go amiss. Bermuda's young people should have been primed and present in greater numbers to savour the wonder of it all.

Marjorie Pettit THEATRE REVIEW REV