`KING DAVID': OF MELODY AND DISCORD

Though the last time he sang the dramatic oratorio "King David" was decades ago in college, Dr. John Egbert still remembered many of the melodies when the Choral Union began rehearsing for Tuesday's concert.

"These are some of the most wonderfully melodic things I have ever heard in my life," says the Choral Union director.

But Arthur Honegger's "King David" also can be discordant, and the orchestration to be performed by the Southeast Chamber Orchestra is sparse.

"It's more modern sounding than some things in one way but also ancient sounding in another," Egbert says.

Most of the text was taken from the first and second books of Samuel, which describe the life of David.

Honegger, an early 20th century composer, does a wonderful job of "text painting" in "King David," Egbert says. "What happens in the text is reflected in the melody and the harmonic and rhythmic structure of the music."

The soloists will be Drs. Elizabeth James-Gallagher and Christopher Goeke of the Southeast faculty and contralto Marsha Caughlan, a graduate student at the university.

Rather than telling the story of "King David" through soloists, Honegger elected to include a narrator. That role will be filled by Don McNeely, former longtime Cape Girardeau TV weatherman.

Another spoken part belongs to Laurie Shaffer, who has the role of the medium Endor.

"This is an unusual work," Egbert says. "People hear a performance of it and walk out saying, What was that? or they fall in love with it."

The Choral Union was at a point in its development when it needed to do just such a thorny and exacting work, Egbert said.

Just to make sure any disaffected singers and audience members come back, he has programmed a slam dunk, Handel's "Messiah," for the group's fall concert.

Tuesday's performance will be at 8 p.m. at Academic Auditorium.