Chapter 47 - Atlanta
Dave and Helen Damouth
www.damouth.org
Dec 19, 1999
12/3/99 Atlanta is chock full of music and musical groups, few of whom we've previously been aware. And every one of them seems to be giving at least two concerts between now and Christmas. Tonight we attended a Christmas concert by the Michael O'Neal Singers - a 150-voice choir based in Roswell (a northeastern suburb of Atlanta). A portion of the program was by the 24-voice Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers - a professional core group from within the larger group. Dr. O'Neal has a stage presence and sense of drama worthy of a camp meeting evangelist, and the entire performance had a bigger-than-life flair that enhanced the music.
The concert took place at United Methodist Church of Roswell in a relatively new and impressive large sanctuary - a 12-sided polygonal space of contemporary design - high ceiling rising toward the center supported by soaring wood beams, an immense array of loudspeakers suspended high in the center, an altar platform thrusting out almost to the center of the room, and a tier of permanent choir risers along fully 25% of the circumference of the room behind the altar. The 150 singers were spaced comfortably and did not fill the risers, and there was still room for a large symphony orchestra on the platform in front of the singers (although this concert did not include an orchestra). I estimated the seating capacity at around 1500 - about a third of it in a balcony which extended around about 2/3 of the perimeter, high enough in the air so as not to affect the sound for the back rows on the main floor. The actual audience appeared to be around 1000 people, which at $15 per person would go a long way toward paying the bills.
It was interesting to note the advertisement for this church's own Christmas program next week. They are giving three performances, and still have to limit admission to holders of (free) tickets obtained at the church in advance. Where else could you find a local church choir concert that would draw up to 5000 people? And this is just one of a very large number of huge, apparently very affluent, churches that we've noticed as we drive around the area. Down here, a lot of people take their religion very seriously.
The five-manual pipe organ is large and versatile - with an array of solo voices located high in the balcony at the "back" of the room, a decorative array of huge pipes high above the choir risers behind the altar, and uncountable ranks of pipes disappearing back into a large enclosure and swell box. Interestingly, a broad array of electronic synthesizer effects were coupled to the organ keyboard and played through the giant loudspeakers. This provided a surprisingly pleasant and unobtrusive sound, as chimes, bells, and even a sort of harpsichord sound was added to the traditional organ voicing in certain works. At one point, I realized that a John Rutter carol that I am used to hearing on a Cambridge Singers recording, accompanied by full orchestra, sounded almost the same performed here with just organ accompaniment, with nearly the same range of orchestral color being supplied by this versatile instrument.
The music was fairly standard main-stream classical Christmas repertoire, mostly familiar to us. The full choir was perhaps the best large choir we've heard - precise musical entrances and exits, well blended sound, and well in touch with the conductor. The chamber choir was less successful, hampered by a soprano section of strong, well trained, but poorly blended and not-quite-together voices.
The program was presented without intermission and with only two brief pauses for applause which divided the music into three sections, of which the center section was sung by the chamber choir. Each section started with a short instrumental piece for organ and trumpet, and the entire section was performed without breaks - at most a beat or two of silence between each selection. The effect was spellbinding. As one example, the familiar David Willcocks arrangement of O Come All Ye Faithful, (starting with the standard hymn version and building gradually to an ornate and thundering final verse with soaring soprano obbligato, full organ, and solo trumpet) was followed without pause by the quiet, simple, innocent, a cappella Martin Shaw arrangement of Coventry Carol.
12/4 Perhaps we can put the gloves and insulated jackets away for a while. The cold weather that chased us south is dissipating. The last several days have each been a little warmer than the previous one. Today, it's sunny, with temperatures in the high 60's, and the trailer windows are open.
Marietta is a suburb of Atlanta that was a summer get-away for the wealthy of Savannah before the Civil War. Although the war nearly wiped out the town, a few of the cottages that were spared provided the core of a house tour, the Marietta Pilgrimage, A Christmas Home tour. One of these homes was not on previous years tours and was such a magnet that the waiting line to get in was well over an hour - not too onerous as it was a sunny warm day and the line wound through massive tulip trees old pump houses, 8' wrought iron urns, boxwood mazes, and other estate plantings.
These houses were modest compared to some of the northern mansions of the same era, but still elegant and interesting.with Greek Revival styling, heart-of-pine floors and pink Georgia Marble fireplaces. Margaret Mitchell brought the designers from Gone With the Wind into one of these houses for them to use as a model for Tara. The houses built after the Civil war were even more modest, but still charming, with interesting architectural solutions to the need to incorporate an originally detached kitchen into the house to meet modern tastes.
The Christmas decorations were mostly greens - glossy magnolia leaves, lacy cedar, spiky pine sprays - with fruit, nuts or berries, covering almost every horizontal surface and outlining every door opening and porch railing. A bathtub in one house had greens submerged in 6 inches of water with candles floating on the surface.
The houses were charming, but most of the guides in them knew less about the houses then was than was printed in the brochure. The guides in the tour busses were far more knowledgeable, each delivering an entertaining spiel. One guide related the great train robbery, a real Civil War event that happened in Marietta, and which was the basis of the recent movie by that title. I was very taken aback to hear the bus riders, mostly women, hooting at Union Victories and cheering at the Rebel successes in his story. Some cheered when he mentioned the deaths of Union Soldiers. So, I didn't chat much with my fellow tourists, not wanting my northern accent to get me into a tangle with anyone who would cheer deaths 120 years after the war!
This evening, we drove almost an hour (this is a big city) down to Spivey Hall, on the Clayton College campus, to hear the Atlanta Singers - a 16-voice professional chamber choir. We own their CD and knew they were very good, so this was less of a gamble than some of the other concerts we've scheduled. The group lived up to our expectations, and their program was varied and interesting, some of it new to us.
Spivey Hall is very interesting. It is billed as one of the best small (about 500-seat) recital halls in the country. It's about 10 years old, contains a huge organ with five-manual console, and is outfitted with lots of technology, including heavy draperies along the upper side and back walls, which can cover most of the wall for damping the acoustics, or can be retracted into hidden alcoves for a brighter sound. For this concert, the drapes were fully retracted, and the sound was very live and bright. We'll still nominate Kilbourn Hall, on the Eastman School of Music campus, as the best such hall - but Spivey is very good.
12/7 Tonight's concert was by Pieces of Eight, an 8-member (4 men, 4 women) touring professional group based in St. Louis, Missouri. Their genre is vocal jazz, and they are one of the best such groups we've heard, presenting a thoroughly enjoyable program. But we found their music (all written or arranged specifically for them by their artistic Director, Charley Mead) to be over-arranged, with the cute special effects often getting in the way of the music itself.
12/9 In the newspaper event listings, Dave noticed a table tennis club which offered open play two nights a week. So this evening, he drove to Roswell to check it out. The club is a small, friendly group - meeting in a community recreation center, using half a dozen inexpensive tables. It is operated by a 78-year-old guy who no longer had the energy for competitive play, and "retired" to organize and operate this small club as a community service and a training center for promising children, to whom he offered free coaching. He's still a good player, and beat me without difficulty. One approximately 11-year-old boy showed considerably promise, and gave me a good game. A few of the adults present were good enough to provide interesting play. A pleasant evening, and I went back on two other evenings before we left Atlanta.
12/10 Another day, another concert: Back to Spivey Hall to hear Lionheart - a six-man group based in New York City, specializing in Medieval chant and later music deriving from chant. Although their publicity mentions contemporary music too, this evening's program was entirely Medieval. They are incredibly good - all six with velvety voices that blend seamlessly and are always in perfect tune with each other. The music and the program notes were an interesting history lesson, tracing the origins of the Christmas Carol back to a 12th century pagan dance form, used for bawdy entertainment and witchcraft. The early Franciscan monks adapted the pagan forms for Christian worship as part of the process of introducing Christianity to the English Isles.
Dr. Spivey was a dentist, by the way, although he got rich from astute real estate investments, not from dentistry. Mrs Spivey was an active professional organist, explaining the use of Spivey Foundation money to design and fund this outstanding concert hall and its magnificent organ.
12/11 Off to Lilburn - another Atlanta suburb, to hear the Gwinnett Festival Singers ("Soon to be the Atlanta Sacred Chorale"). This 52-voice group was founded in 1985 and has produced several recordings - of which we bought two after the concert. We were surprised to note, in the program credits, that quite a few of the singers had donated over $1000 each to the group, and substantially more had donated over $500.
The concert was billed as "A Family Christmas" and included several audience sing-along opportunities, poetry readings, with narration by a local NPR radio personality. The audience indeed contained quite a few family groups with young children. Two of the three choirs of the Gwinnett Young Singers participated. These were the two younger groups - the "Training Choir" and the "Intermediate Choir". The third group was busy performing in the Atlanta Symphony's Christmas concert. Dr. Eric Nelson became the conductor of this group in January 1999. The program was diverse, and the performance was very competent -- musical, accurate, well blended.
12/13 We finally saw the "Big Chicken" - Marietta's most famous landmark. We've been hearing about this marvel ever since we arrived - first from an Internet Friend (thanks, Joan) and then in local newspapers, and then when it was several times mentioned in directions we were give to get to various places in the area. It's a tall animated plywood sign cut crudely in the shape of a chicken head, originally advertising a local fried chicken place on US 41 (now a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise). The beak opens and closes and the eyes roll - indeed a memorable landmark. We had an opportunity to attend a concert by a group calling itself "The Big Chicken Chorus" (we passed by that opportunity).
Harry's Farm Market is a more important local landmark. It is a huge supermarket dedicated to food from around the world - probably the most diverse collection of food we've seen on one place. The fresh produce was labeled by country of origin and came from an amazing number of countries - a tribute to modern air freight. Many of the customers spoke little English and were here to get ethnic specialties from their own little corner of the world.
I couldn't begin to describe the breadth of the selection, but just as examples: The fish counter had a huge selection of fresh fish - including skate wings and several varieties of squid. There were countless varieties of hot peppers from around the world - including those lethal little Thai peppers (selling these ought to require a special license). There was an interesting conversation adjacent to us in the checkout line, as a Chinese lady whose cart included a big bunch of strange-looking Chinese chives explained their preparation and use as a stir-fry ingredient to a curious American woman behind her in the line.
12/14 The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is just a couple of miles from our RV Park - I can see the mountain through the trailer window beside my desk. We've generally passed by the many battlefield memorials as we travel, but after passing this one several times on the way to other places, we finally turned in. The visitor's center is contains little information, since the museum area is closed for reconstruction. The top of the mountain has a number of restored gun emplacements, and several interpretive signs explaining the course of the 1864 battle fought here and the related troop movements before and after this battle. This was one of a series of major battles as General Sherman's army marched toward Atlanta. The mountain top offers a commanding view of the road and railroad which Sherman followed, approximately the same location as the present railway, with the high-rise buildings of downtown Atlanta visible on the horizon to the southeast.
12/15 Winter generally isn't the best time to visit botanical gardens, but we're now far enough south so that the Atlanta Botanical Garden was very attractive even in mid-December. Quite a few flowers were still in bloom, and massive beds of pansies had been planted, an impressively colorful replacement for the summer flowers. More kinds of evergreen plants thrive here than in the north, so many areas of the garden were attractively green, some with red berries. The tropical conservatory was impressive, and was scented by a large collection of blooming orchids. A large area was devoted to the desert plants of Madagascar. Like Australia, the great majority of the plants on this isolated island occur nowhere else on earth and some of them are strikingly unique.
The High Museum of Art is housed in an award-winning building designed by Richard Meier in 1983. We weren't particularly impressed by either the building (awkward, slightly dysfunctional spaces, cheap painted wallboard interior surfaces) or the collection (small and uneven). We leave most museums with at least a couple of specific memories of particularly nice things. We had trouble thinking of any such memorable elements in this museum - other than perhaps a very attractive and interesting white marble statue "The Veiled Rebeccah" (Benzoni, 1864).
12/16 We stumbled across the Cyclorama on the way to the zoo, and almost passed it by on the assumption that it was something like a bicycle museum. An outdoor advertising kiosk corrected that error, and we spent an interesting hour enjoying the presentation. The building houses a 358-foot circumference, 42-foot high painting depicting in great detail a scene from one battle of the Civil War, which took place a few miles north of Atlanta. The original 1883 painting was augmented in 1936 by a very effective diorama in the foreground, which blends smoothly into the painting. In 1979, as part of a massive restoration, a 200-seat array of theater seating was added. The seats rotate slowly, so that the painting slides smoothly past the viewers, as a narrator tells the story of the event and spotlights are switched on to highlight the portions of the action being described (sort of a low-tech alternative to the modern movie).
The painting was commissioned by a Yankee politician who wanted to dramatize his role as a major general in the war, to assist his election campaign. The politician died before the painting was ever shown, and the painting was bought and sold several times over the following decade, before being donated to the city of Atlanta, who built the present viewing facility (and included Clark Gable in the diorama, as a dead Confederate soldier).
The Atlanta Zoo is small but well-designed. We particularly enjoyed watching a large and contented family of lowland gorillas, including Willie, the 41-year-old greyback patriarch, several adult females, and children of all ages, one a four month old baby, whose mother will continue to hold it tightly in her arms for another month before it is allowed to move around on its own. An eighteen month old toddler had developed a clever game. It teased another, older and larger, youngster until the big one chased the little one. The little one then ran between the old silverback's legs and out the other side. The larger youngster tried to follow, but was too big to get through and was gruffly shoved away by Willie. This was repeated several times while we watched.
Later, the little one varied the routine by actually climbing on Willie's back to escape. Again, the bigger youngster was rebuffed by Willie when it tried to follow. Willie seemed unusually tolerant of these antics. We've seen other gorilla families where the old silverback had no tolerance at all for adolescent horseplay in his vicinity. Meanwhile, another quite young gorilla was playing games with the humans on the other side of a huge plate-glass window. The gorilla would run up to the glass and slap it loudly with hands and/or feet, apparently enjoying the noise and the startled reaction of children on the other side, some of whom would then imitate the behavior, helping demonstrate to the gorillas that humans have a certain amount of intelligence.
12/19 Time to move on. We had planned to head south, but then realized that there were interesting things to see and do to the east and north of us. We may not be back this way for a long time, so we'll backtrack a bit into South Carolina, visiting Clemson, Columbia, and Charleston before heading south.