Volume 19 Issue 4 - December 2013

Beat by Beat | Choral ScenePleasure? Guiltyas Charged!BENJAMIN STEINThe concept of the musical “guilty pleasure” is a dumb notionthat needs to be permanently retired. Guilty pleasures, of course,are things you enjoy that aren’t especially healthy for you. Theholiday season gives you an opportunity to indulge in, oh, one or twoof them. So a (not especially convincing) case can be made for feelingguilt about taking pleasure in things that, in excess, can lead to illhealth — food and drink certainly fall into this category.But the idea of guilty pleasure is also commonly and perniciouslyassociated with music, though as of this writing science has yet toestablish the link between listening choice and terminal disease.The idea is a powerful one. If your self-image is somehow shapedby your musical preferences — for many people, it is — then anythingthat apparently contradicts that image must be listened to on the sly,becoming a “guilty pleasure”: the Bach expert who likes to kick backwith Italian pop ballads by Bocelli (while her unsuspecting husbandsnoozes upstairs); or the thrash metal enthusiast whose eyes mist uplistening to a heartbreak ballad on his daughter’s Taylor Swift album.During this holiday season, in which pretty much every choiraround presents a program with the intent to delight and enchant,perhaps we can agree that guilt should have no place in our musicalchoices — no matter what the time of year.I’ll write more about this curious but widespread phenomenonin the next column — it’s entirely relevant to our ongoing discussionof new music. In the meantime, having focused almost exclusivelyon the Britten centenary last month, I will turn the column over toDecember concerts.Toronto has a wealth of excellent children’s choirs, and two of themost accomplished present seasonal programs in December. TheBach Children’s Chorus and Bach Chamber Youth Choir present “ThisFrosty Tide” on December 7; and the Toronto Children’s Choruspresents “A Chorus Christmas: Fanciful Fantasies” on December 21.A newly formed children’s choir, the ASLAN Boys Choir of Toronto,presents their debut performance “Now is the Time!” on December 15.The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, a choir devoted to music of the Africandiaspora, performs “An Indigo Christmas” on December 3. Inspired bythe famous “Nigra Sum” text from the Song of Songs (“I am black butcomely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem”), the concert is a collection of“Songs to the Black Virgin” — music inspired by Madonna figures fromaround the world.Messiah concerts: you’re on your own. Do I really need to talk upthis piece at this stage in human history? Go and support the manyexcellent choirs who have made it a central part of their concertseason. Here’s my suggestion — throw a dart at a page of the listings,PETER MAHONSales Representative416-322-8000pmahon@trebnet.comwww.petermahon.com28 | December 1, 2013 – February 7, 2014 thewholenote.com