EIF 26: The Song of Hiawatha

Usher Hall 19/8/26

'The Song of Hiawatha' by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, based on poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Rafael Payare conductor

Edinburgh Festival Chorus, James Grossmith chorus director

Francesca Chiejina soprano, Nicky Spence tenor, Christopher Maltman baritone

At the Edinburgh Grand Opera's 1933 production of 'Hiawatha – A Tale of Wonder' many in the audience would have mouthed along to the familar opening words, “You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis...”; tonight it's the shock of the new that alerts us to the solo trumpet call, and the brass and lower strings introduction. Rafael Payare's conducting brings out the nuances of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's magnificent orchestration, while Longfellow's, often parodied, trochaic metre, is transformed into distinctive rhythmic variations of the eight-note line. And however inauthentic, the Objibwe names resonate along with the (admittedly over-the-top!) poetic text. We learn about Hiawatha, his bride Minnehaha, and Old Nokomis, before 'Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast' introduces us to three entertainers, each described by the Chorus and the orchestra's different textures: the dancer's frenzy with brass, and woodwinds, the piccolo shrill above them; the lyrical introduction on harps,flutes and cellos to Chibiabos's song, 'Onaway Awake Beloved', with its nods to the Victorian parlour-song, a splendid vehicle for tenor Nicky Spence. Then the Chorus deplores the exaggerations of story-teller Iagoo's tale, with more winds and timpani, the cymbals topping the crescendo - until the celebration gives way to night.

While the 'Wedding Feast' represents a community's rejoicing, 'The Death of Minnehaha' highlights personal anguish, as illness and hunger affect the people and kills Hiawatha's wife. Rafael Pavare conducts this movement in a compellingly broad sweep in which the horrors of the “long and dreary winter” never relent. Christopher Maltman and Francesca Chiejina make their effective first appearance as personifications of Famine and Fever. Later each combines narrative with personal outcries, Nigerian-American early career singer, Chiejina making an immediate impression as the suffering Minnehah. Hiawatha's attempt to find help travelling on his snowshoes in the forest, contrasts with his wife's hallucinatory fever in her wigwam, the Chorus playing the part of the desperate onlooking community to perfection. Tonight is a big sing for them: they excel in their clear delivery of the text, and enjoy the beauty and the drama of their music. In Maltman's final chorus 'Wahonomin', as he foresees his own death, and journey to “the islands of the blessed”, the melodramatic words on the page translate to entirely believable sorrow in his taut performance.

“Spring has come with all its splendour”, is a bright new melody with another rhythmic variant on the eight-syllable line. Chorus director James Grossmith has spoken about Dvořák's influences on the composer, particularly striking in in this third movement, 'Hiawatha's Departure', and the overture which precedes it. Hiawatha's vision and his commendation of the religion of the “Black Robed Prophet” may be problematic today, but to committed Christians like the young mixed-race Londoner, and the poet Longfellow, proselytising was part of their belief. Hiawatha’s vision also refers to “peoples broken up and scattered” – which surely resonates today - in Maltman's subtle yet resonant embodiment of the role, especially in his final plea to “Gitchimanito the Mighty”. Francesca Chiejina continues to shine in her outstanding debut. Tenor Nicky Spence, singing mostly narrative, has a harder task, but hits his high notes with ease as the boastful Iagoo.

The large audience gives the work and the performers an enthusiastic reception. Full marks to James Grossmith and the Chorus, and to Rafael Payare, whose conducting of this magnificent orchestra and his commitment to putting on the full work has led to 'The Song of Hiawatha's’ belated premiere at the EIF.

The work has been recorded for later broadcast by the BBC, probably its first broadcast for many decades.