Review 11 May 2024
| Type of post: | Review |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | Mike Elcock |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Thu, 16 May 2024 |
Holst: Psalm 86 and Psalm 148
Whitlock: Allegro Risoluto (from Plymouth Suite) - organ solo
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
Vaughan Williams: Benedicite
Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
A master of understatement, conductor Steve Kings described Thornbury Choral Society’s recent concert as ‘A Concert of English Music’. It was much, much more than that: it was a celebration of English music and one in which the choir responded magnificently. This was the best I have heard TCS sing; perhaps it was the move away from the dead-hand and cloying acoustics of previous venues, but the space of St. Mary’s Church allowed all voices to be heard to good effect: the balance was good and visually impressive too.
The choice of composers was admirable: Holst’s two psalm settings set the scene for the programme – the very quiet opening (quite a test for any choir) was very convincing. The second setting had a few problems, but that is the joy of live music-making. We have perhaps become too accustomed to perfection on our CD’s, but live music can be perilous. (Even Rattle and the Berlin SO at the Proms had a car-crash moment.) These things happen.
Britten’s ‘Rejoice in the Lamb’ was the undoubted highlight of the evening. Kings’s expert direction was faultless, and the choir responded magnificently to his every gesture. Their singing was matched by a fine quartet of soloists: Emily Wenman’s (soprano) contribution was extremely good, whilst Alto Sacha Fullerton’s minor role in the work left me wishing to hear more of her singing. Tenor Samir Savant was in fine form, with a commanding projection throughout, whilst Robert Pritchard (bass) really came into his own in his remarkably sensitive interpretation of VW’s ‘Five Mystical Songs’ which concluded the concert.
Congratulations are in order to the stewards who managed to serve drinks in the interval in spite of the difficulties created by the major building work at the West end.
Suitably refreshed, we settled to the other major work of the evening – Vaughan Williams’s ‘Benedicite’. This is a strange work and one written at a time when VW was searching for a new style, yet this work harks back to an earlier period – one characterised by over-complex and thickened textures and an unremitting preoccupation with modality. Perhaps it was this that prompted the music critic Fuller-Maitland to ask “whether we are listening to something very old, or very new?”. The chorus dividing into eight parts gives a clue to the multi-layering of voice parts – a technique which works well with strings (T.Tallis Fantasia & Symph 5i), but is difficult to make convincing with voices.. In this, however, the choir – faced with a difficult score - gave of their best, but it was a pity that Holst hadn’t taken his red pen to the piece, as he often did as VW’s mentor at this time.
Again, Steve Kings was admirably in control throughout, steering choir and soloist through some very tricky passages to enormous effect.
The hero of the evening, however, was largely hidden from our view: James Drinkwater excelled as both organist and pianist – not only coping with the technical demands of a reduced orchestral score in the Benedicite, but his extraordinarily sensitive registration in the Britten. James produced precisely the right colours and textures to illustrate and complement Smart’s poem and in spite of their spatial separation, he was admirably at one with the soloists. His solo playing in the Whitlock Allegro risoluto was equally impressive, though the St.Mary’s organ lacked the wonderfully honking Tuba that Whitlock had at St. Stephen’s, Bournemouth.
This was a most enjoyable concert – highly successful. TCS need entertain no anxieties about the suitability of this venue for future concerts.
Martin Firth
Whitlock: Allegro Risoluto (from Plymouth Suite) - organ solo
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
Vaughan Williams: Benedicite
Vaughan Williams: Five Mystical Songs
A master of understatement, conductor Steve Kings described Thornbury Choral Society’s recent concert as ‘A Concert of English Music’. It was much, much more than that: it was a celebration of English music and one in which the choir responded magnificently. This was the best I have heard TCS sing; perhaps it was the move away from the dead-hand and cloying acoustics of previous venues, but the space of St. Mary’s Church allowed all voices to be heard to good effect: the balance was good and visually impressive too.
The choice of composers was admirable: Holst’s two psalm settings set the scene for the programme – the very quiet opening (quite a test for any choir) was very convincing. The second setting had a few problems, but that is the joy of live music-making. We have perhaps become too accustomed to perfection on our CD’s, but live music can be perilous. (Even Rattle and the Berlin SO at the Proms had a car-crash moment.) These things happen.
Britten’s ‘Rejoice in the Lamb’ was the undoubted highlight of the evening. Kings’s expert direction was faultless, and the choir responded magnificently to his every gesture. Their singing was matched by a fine quartet of soloists: Emily Wenman’s (soprano) contribution was extremely good, whilst Alto Sacha Fullerton’s minor role in the work left me wishing to hear more of her singing. Tenor Samir Savant was in fine form, with a commanding projection throughout, whilst Robert Pritchard (bass) really came into his own in his remarkably sensitive interpretation of VW’s ‘Five Mystical Songs’ which concluded the concert.
Congratulations are in order to the stewards who managed to serve drinks in the interval in spite of the difficulties created by the major building work at the West end.
Suitably refreshed, we settled to the other major work of the evening – Vaughan Williams’s ‘Benedicite’. This is a strange work and one written at a time when VW was searching for a new style, yet this work harks back to an earlier period – one characterised by over-complex and thickened textures and an unremitting preoccupation with modality. Perhaps it was this that prompted the music critic Fuller-Maitland to ask “whether we are listening to something very old, or very new?”. The chorus dividing into eight parts gives a clue to the multi-layering of voice parts – a technique which works well with strings (T.Tallis Fantasia & Symph 5i), but is difficult to make convincing with voices.. In this, however, the choir – faced with a difficult score - gave of their best, but it was a pity that Holst hadn’t taken his red pen to the piece, as he often did as VW’s mentor at this time.
Again, Steve Kings was admirably in control throughout, steering choir and soloist through some very tricky passages to enormous effect.
The hero of the evening, however, was largely hidden from our view: James Drinkwater excelled as both organist and pianist – not only coping with the technical demands of a reduced orchestral score in the Benedicite, but his extraordinarily sensitive registration in the Britten. James produced precisely the right colours and textures to illustrate and complement Smart’s poem and in spite of their spatial separation, he was admirably at one with the soloists. His solo playing in the Whitlock Allegro risoluto was equally impressive, though the St.Mary’s organ lacked the wonderfully honking Tuba that Whitlock had at St. Stephen’s, Bournemouth.
This was a most enjoyable concert – highly successful. TCS need entertain no anxieties about the suitability of this venue for future concerts.
Martin Firth
