Tea & harmony

By SOLMAAZ YAZDIHA Bulletin Contributing Writer

Published on August 22, 2008

From childhood tea parties served among glass-eyed, soft and stuffed company, to British High Tea, the idea of an afternoon sup is a time-honored tradition, providing an opportunity for intimate conversation and a light bite. Even today, teatime is seen as a chance for relaxation, one of those rare moments when the world is able to, ever so slightly, slow down.

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum has been offering those rare moments for ages. Afternoon tea has been a tradition at the house in Hadley for over 250 years. A resident of the house from 1752 until she died in 1817, Elizabeth Porter Phelps wrote in her diary that at least once a week, couples were invited over for tea, the beverage that "cheers but not inebriates."

Every summer the museum continues the tradition with its "A Perfect Spot of Tea" series. On Saturdays in July and August, visitors are invited to enjoy tea, pastries, and live music on the museum's back veranda. On Aug. 23, Honest Harmony, a local a cappella quartet performs popular music from the 15th to 19th centuries.

"We play music that people are accustomed to hearing," said soprano Barbara Mathews of Hadley. "We enjoy singing pieces that people thought of as entertainment, enjoyable, that they found diverting.

"The high water mark for a cappella part singing is the 16th- and early 17th-century period," she said. "I think that's an era of music that more people should know about, and we're really happy to share it with them."

"We especially like early music," said Cindy Naughton of Pelham, who sings the alto part. "We like Renaissance, madrigals, all of that."

A madrigal is a type of secular vocal music composition, written during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. The group also presents songs from such diverse origins as the church and the publik house. In addition to Mathews and Naughton, the ensemble features tenor John Vance of Hadley and baritone Ijod Schroeder of Brattleboro.

"A cappella, to me, is the opportunity to hear a blend of voices that are unmasked by any musical accompaniment," Mathews said. "The music is so beautiful, composed for voices who all reinforce and support the beauty of each line. With that you get these beautiful individual lines that, together, make this whole that is more than simply the sum of the parts."

Mathews began singing a cappella in high school, and continued to pursue the music in college, where she formed her own group. Naughton, who is a teacher at the Smith College Campus school and founder of the Pelham Players Theater Company, grew up as an instrumentalist, playing keyboard and flute. The four members of Honest Harmony were part of a larger ensemble years ago, and came together as a quartet after receiving a grant to sing at a concert in Williamsburg.

"We decided we wanted to explore even more music and we really enjoyed singing together," Mathews said. "What we have in common is that we share this passion for historical music."

And, it turns out, a desire to take the music further - performing more complex pieces, for example, and in a foreign language. "Our group was particularly interested in doing music a little more difficult than a big group could do," Naughton said, "and we've been able to do that.

"I think the fact that we all are doing something just because we enjoy doing it makes the music special," she said. "We all like singing this style of music, we all like singing together. It's a recreation for us."

Honest Harmony has performed for "A Perfect Spot of Tea" for several years. "We tend to sing a lot for historical societies," Mathews said. "It's just beautiful singing on the Porter-Phelps veranda. The flowers, the grounds, we're all so glad to be there. I can't imagine a nicer place to have a spot of tea and do some singing."

Seating times for "A Perfect Spot of Tea" are at 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Admission for tea, pastries and music is $10 per person. Tours of the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum are available on the half-hour for an additional fee of $5 for adults and $1 for children 12 and under. For more information about the museum and its events, call 584-4699 or visit the Web site www.pphmuseum.org.