The Carmino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route across northern Spain, provides the inspiration for Joby Talbot’s epic 2005 composition Path of Miracles. An extended, four-movement choral work was commissioned by Nigel Short’s London-based ensemble Tenebrae (who performed it here in the Melbourne Recital Centre in 2017). This performance was in the glorious acoustic of St Patrick’s Cathedral, surely the closest to a Spanish sound-world we can muster, and thus perfect for this important work’s return.
Michael Fulcher led the 24-strong Polyphonic Voices through the contrasting landscapes along the journey Talbot creates for the listener, each movement a finely woven tapestry of smaller threads that build into monumental structures. We begin in Roncesvalles, high in the Pyrenees, and traipse – long and tiring rather than aimless – our way through the cathedral cities of Burgos and Léon to the final destination of Santiago de Compostela. The music perfectly mirrors the struggles and vicissitudes of a pilgrimage trek: it is extended and taxing, but the rewards – both those found almost incidentally along the way and those unlocked by reaching the ultimate goal, a place of rest and resolution – are worth the effort of staying the course.
With a composition of this scale and complexity, it is hard to separate discussion of the work itself from its performance; the former can be appreciated as an integrated and effective musical journey only through hearing a near-perfect presentation. In the assured hands and artistic vision of Michael Fulcher, aided by the experience and expertise of tenor Christopher Watson, a former member of Tenebrae, Polyphonic Voices did indeed deliver such a transcendental concert experience.
Lasting almost 70 minutes and having no instrumental accompaniment save for a smattering of crotale bells – expertly played by baritone Tom Baldwin – Talbot’s work is a test for even the finest of vocal ensembles. This rendition by the relatively young yet already highly experienced members of Polyphonic Voices was a virtuosic display of choral singing, a masterclass in presentation, engagement and skilful handling of contemporary vocal techniques such as glissando, cluster chords, harmonic singing and rhythmic ostinato.
A great variety of texts – settings of medieval verse in English and Latin, as well as briefly in Greek, Spanish, Basque, French and German, juxtaposed with (or rather illuminated, extended and amplified by) modern poetry by Robert Dickinson – keeps the listener engaged and expectant. We join with a multicultural throng as it proceeds along the inexorable path toward to holy relics of St James. Trying to follow the text and fathom its meaning and relevance is near impossible given its interweaving and simultaneous presentation; it is better to sit back and let the sound wash over you as you meditate with the pilgrims in their trance-like state, or are shocked out of your daydream by an unexpected turn of events on the path.
The work opens almost imperceptibly, a low chant emanating from the back of the cathedral, the sound gradually rising from the lowest depths of the bass voices. The style is that of the Bunun people of Taiwan, though it surely shares some similarity with Tibetan Buddhist and Slavonic chanting. Outstanding solo contributions from alto Elizabeth Chong and later by Christopher Watson and soprano Hannah Hornsby during this movement were ably supported by more extended low bass work. In particular, the verse “O avocate peregrinorum” (O defender of pilgrims) was gloriously underpinned by the resonant bass 2 line led by Leyland Jones.
Movement 2, at Burgos, proceeds without a break, with a quartet of higher voiced tenors and sopranos. When twelfth-century St Julián of Cuenca is invoked, there is a sparse and ethereal “motet” that I count among the highlights of the work and of this performance. But is a fleeting glimpse of the divine, quickly swallowed by more sinister and dissonant scenes that will recure during this section. Further fine solos came from altos Alex Ritter and Miranda Gronow, singing from the side aisles and often in triple time against the prevailing four-beat choral parts. It was a spatial and aural triumph. This, and the succeeding declamatory passage “The devil waits”, were stylishly and expertly conveyed to the audience and were captivating in their intensity and dynamic contrast.
Once we reach the city of Léon, things appear much brighter. “The sun that shines within me is my joy, and God is my guide” – an anonymous thirteenth-century text – sparkled with radiant upper voices over a slower-moving sinuous bass line. Excerpts from Psalm 84 (“How amiable are thy tabernacles”) were here sung with exquisitely balanced and beautifully modulated tone. After a procession down the nave, “Here is a miracle” was given softer and more reverent treatment with echoes of earlier musical figures in a generally more consonant and calm landscape.
With the end in sight, Alex Ritter treated us to an exquisite and elegant plainchant to return the singers to centre stage. The final movement contained some of the most varied music and some of the hardest. Only as the road “climbs for days through the highlands of Bierzo” did the voices falter slightly, a momentary stumble on the long road, quickly recovering on reaching the “stream at Lavacolla” – literally the place to wash away the dirt of the journey before entering Santiago – where the music, perhaps reminiscent of Arvo Pärt, settles and cleanses. The pilgrims (and singers) now rush headlong toward the cathedral chanting a fast, rhythmic song about the joy of Spring’s return. Here the soaring beauty of Jane Wiebusch’s pure soprano brought that joy to reality for the listeners, now ready, like those who have trod the road, to find their rest.
The long journey concludes in peaceful, radiant and consonant harmony. The pilgrims disperse, going their separate ways, each group singing a different song as their sounds fade into the distance.
The whole concert was a ceremony, an extraordinary journey through myriad styles and sound worlds, all expertly handled by the singers and quietly and deftly directly from the centre by Fulcher. This was an outstanding presentation of one of this century’s finest contributions to the choral repertoire. The challenge of hard music – at one point the choir is in 17 parts – has been faced with brilliant success, and the large audience in St Patrick’s Cathedral on a football-final night proved that Melbourne’s music lovers are also up for the challenge.
Photo supplied.
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Peter Campbell reviewed “Path of Miracles”, presented by Polyphonic Voices at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne on 19 September 19, 2025.
