UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 2, Page 11
September 8, 1994
Peter McCarthy conducts in the church of Mozart

     The opportunity to conduct the choir in Salzburg Cathedral at
Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Mozart, is an honor bestowed upon
few Americans.
     But for Peter J. McCarthy, associate professor of music,
participating in the annual Salzburg Church Music Festival has become
a regular summer event.
     This year, for three weeks during June and July, McCarthy
conducted more than 200 American choral singers at the festival, as he
has done since 1987.
     The first concert featured music by Mozart. The final concert
included a number of traditional American gospel songs and concluded
with Francis Poulenc's Gloria.
     As an added honor this year, the master of music at the
cathedral, or "kapelmeister" Janos Czifra, asked McCarthy to conduct
at the Sunday mass as well as the Saturday concert.
     "It's difficult to describe what it's like. The Mass itself is a
wonderful piece, Haydn's Harmony Mass, performed in the same space
where his brother, Michael Haydn, had worked, where Georg Muffat had
worked and where Mozart himself had stood. It's a humbling thing to
do," McCarthy said.
     Choirs from around the United States hoping to be included in the
festival submit tapes to McCarthy. This year, the festival included
groups from Huntington Beach, Calif., Winter Park, Fla., Charlotte,
N.C., and Knoxville, Tenn. McCarthy met with each choir individually
to rehearse before they left for Austria.
     Several days before the Mozart concert, McCarthy again met with
the choirs, this time facing the challenge of putting it all together.
     "On the Thursday before the concert, we move into a large
rehearsal area. They've all seen me, I've seen them. But they've not
seen each other. That's the fun part: a series of small organizations,
numbering 35 to 60 members, all working together on the same piece to
be performed on Saturday."
     There are a number of hurdles to overcome, one being the limited
rehearsal time. The choir practiced together for the first time that
Thursday, with the Leo-Weiner orchestra of Budapest on Friday and at a
dress rehearsal the morning before the concert, McCarthy explained.
     "They are all of different technical abilities, and it's
necessary to get them all to do the same thing at the same time,"
McCarthy said. "That's what an ensemble does. We all must produce the
same vowel at the same time on the same pitch."
     The massive 13th-century cathedral also challenges one's
knowledge of acoustics. "The performing space is huge," McCarthy said.
"The organ loft where we perform accommodates 180 voices plus a
symphony orchestra. For some singers, it's larger than their entire
church. We have to be really clear and precise to carry. Otherwise,
it's mud."
     McCarthy first met Czifra in 1978, while visiting Vienna with the
University of Delaware Concert Choir performing Beethoven and
bicentennial music at St. Stephen's Cathedral. In 1987, Czifra asked
McCarthy to put together a program of music for an annual festival to
feature American choirs. Every year, except one, McCarthy has returned
to the Salzburg Church Music Festival.
     There is immense pressure to perform well, but the rewards make
the effort worthwhile, according to McCarthy. "Most of the reward
comes from what happens at the conclusion. Everyone is so changed.
They are edified. For many, it's a tremendous spiritual experience, as
well as a musical one.
     "I help them get past technical problems and into the essence of
the music-to have them understand this musical, spiritual
experience-all in a strange country with a strange language."
     McCarthy says he has never lost the sense of awe, or challenge,
that comes with performing at the Salzburg cathedral. "It is an
amazing honor. I don't really stop to think about it. I am pretty
nervous about how it will go with all these people and an orchestra.
And it goes swimmingly. People stand up and applaud in the church."
     McCarthy said he looks forward to participating in the event in
the years to come. "It's a chance to sing masterpieces of music in a
wonderful, historically significant setting."
     And he added, with a smile, "It sure beats painting the garage."
                                                      -Chris Kierstead