Mountain Goats + Anonymous 4

Saturday, October 6, 2012 | 8:00 pm

Reynolds Industries Theater

Since 1986, the four singers of the all-female vocal quartet Anonymous 4 have honed their unchallenged mastery of medieval sacred music. Yet they are also bold advocates for Colonial American folk songs and contemporary music, singing world premieres by the likes of Peter Maxwell Davies and John Tavener. In every case, they retain the “polish, dynamic suppleness, and warmth of tone” (NY Times) that have always been their hallmarks. These superb singers indulge ancient and modern muses alike in two complementary Duke Performances concerts.

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A self-made singer and guitarist who elevates troubled lives to flinty poetic heights, John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats is the most compelling raconteur in indie music. His admiration for the early-music singers of Anonymous 4 led to the collaborative song cycle Transcendental Youth, which premiered to acclaim at the 2012 Ecstatic Music Festival in New York.

In Transcendental Youth, haunting songs about the down-and-out in Washington State reveal a hidden affinity between two musical worlds. “The effect of Darnielle’s powerful lyrics and plaintive voice,” says NPR, “set against the luminous colors of Anonymous 4, [is] just magical.” This stirring showpiece, arranged by Owen Pallett, crowns a program of medieval songs by Anonymous 4, a solo Mountain Goats set, and a handful of collaborations on timeless standards.

Program