The Sacred Music of Len Bobo at Tougaloo College's Woodworth Chapel
April 8, 2011
The program opened with Bobo's Cycle of Liturgical Songs, sung
by soprano Rebecca Wascoe. Despite the distraction of some outside
noise the music came across as well crafted and effective. This was
followed by Two Songs for Brian ("Broken Dreams" and "Peace") sung
by baritone Gregory Wascoe, and then, "God So Loved the World" and
"Keep Your Dreams". (Rebecca Wascoe). At that point the distraction
ended and a moment of pure magic followed when Gregory Wascoe sang
"The Water Is Wide" with Bobo's setting of the English tune "O Waly
Waly".
Rebecca Wascoe continued with "Magnificent This Day!" and "Here and
Now", both with texts by Winifred Farrar, Poet Laureate of
Mississippi, from 1978 until her death last November. Rebecca
Wascoe closed the program with settings of four traditional texts:
"The Lord Is My Shepherd", the Lord's Prayer, "What Child Is This"
(an original setting), and "How Great Thou Art". In this last
work Bobo created an elaborate piece using the traditional tune in
various permutations that - with Rebecca Wascoe's vital input -
made a rousing and exciting finale appropriate to the title, so that
one might paraphrase the title and say "How Great That Was!"
In the last group "The Lord Is My Shepherd" (from Bobo's recent
composition "Requiem" for orchestra, soloists, and chorus)
included an oboe (Devon Morton) with the accompaniment. "Requiem"
will receive its premier performance this June. Bobo has to date
more than 125 compositions to his credit, of which several have
been published. He may be contacted at lenbobo@mchsi.com
We thank the Wascoes, oboist Morton, and Len Bobo (who was also
at the piano for the entire program) for a rewarding evening of
unique and compelling music.
- Glenn A. Gentry