The time has come, as the Walrus said, to reflect back on the most memorable musical events of 2011. I hadn’t realized there were so many.

To begin with, all of the Christmas concerts (at least the ones I was able to attend) were outstanding. The Portland Symphony Orchestra’s “Magic of Christmas” shone brightly by returning to its musical roots and divesting itself of most meretricious tinsel (except for the aerialists, whom I loved).

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The Auryn String Quartet delivered “simply the best string quartet playing I have ever heard,” the columnist wrote. Courtesy photo

St. Mary Schola reveled in baroque instruments at “old pitch” and offered the most cheerful Mass ever written, Charpentier’s “Messe de Minuit.”

“Christmas in the Cathedral” dared to present the most contemporary of vocal works — R. Murray Schafer’s “Snowforms” — and gave it a definitive performance.

And Renaissance Voices was even more able than usual to evoke that still, small voice in those over-exposed to elves, snowmen and reindeer.

I missed the DaPonte String Quartet’s free Christmas concert this year, but they provided enough of a holiday gift to Maine by playing the profound, and profoundly lyrical, Benjamin Britten quartet “Death in Venice” at St. Mary the Virgin Church in December.

The one-of-a-kind, brilliant, extraordinary award goes to the Auryn Quartet’s interpretations of early, middle and late Beethoven string quartets at Bates College. As I wrote in the review: “I have always considered most of the breathless, religious commentary on the late quartets a bit overblown, but Sunday’s reading of the Opus 135 made me a believer.”

The entire concert was simply the best string quartet playing I have ever heard.

Quite a bit of the string quartet fare of 2011 was outstanding, if not sui generis. I’ve already mentioned the DaPonte’s “Death in Venice.” Another example was the Ying Quartet’s masterful performance of the Bartok String Quartet No. 5 at the Bowdoin International Music Festival.

The Salt Bay Chamberfest  is always worth the trip to Damariscotta. The U.S. premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s “knock, breathe, shine” was a virtuoso tour de force (“like juggling a chainsaw, a fireball and an egg”), but also surprisingly musical. I enjoyed Aaron Copland’s final work, the duo for Flute and Piano, in which he seemed to be flirting with 12-tone composition.

The best a capella singing of 2011 was by New York’s “Ghostlite,” which made its Maine debut in Portland and Camden during a heatwave. Those who braved the 100-plus temperature in Immanuel Baptist Church were rewarded by paradise.

The Portland Chamber Music Festival’s performance of Ralph Vaughn Williams’ “On Wenlock Edge,” with tenor John McVeigh, was another high point of the season.

Although some listeners didn’t agree with me, I liked pianist Awadagin Pratt’s Romantic interpretation of the Beethoven “Emperor” Concerto with the Portland Symphony. The lyrical second movement was almost mystical.

The award for highest sustained level at a seasonal concert goes to the Portland Symphony’s January 25 premiere of Elliott Schwartz’s “Diamond Jubilee,” complete with cellphone chorus, followed by an exquisite rendering of the Prokofiev Third Piano Concerto with Andrew von Oeyen and finally a lively, raucous Shostakovich Symphony No. 5.  

All things considered, not a bad year at all in music, anyway.

Christopher Hyde is a writer and musician who lives in Pownal. He can be reached at:

classbeat@netscape.net

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