THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS

THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS

The Waltham Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral

18.11.17

“This is the best of me,” - words of Ruskin quoted by Elgar at the end of the manuscript. Andrew Fardell and the Waltham Singers made a strong case in support of this assessment.

It is a great work, both in its conception and in the forces required.

As in their Lenten concert earlier this year, the instrumental accompaniment was provided by Ensemble Orquesta.

From the Prelude, with its fortissimo climaxes, it was clear that Elgar’s vision of the soul’s journey to the afterlife was in safe hands.

The first entry of the choir – as the Assistants, the friends who pray with him at the last – was beautifully judged. The women [the Angelicals] sang the contemplative passages to great effect - “O Generous Love”. And the final prayers of those left behind “Spare him, Lord” were movingly done. But they could not hope to replicate the huge choral societies that Elgar had in mind, and the “sullen howl” of the Demons struggled to make much impact against the thundering brass and percussion.

Jeremy White’s bass brought gravitas to the Priest and the repeated exhortations of the Angel of the Agony. Rebecca Afonwy-Jones’s pure mezzo was perfect for the Angel; this was a truly uplifting performance – her phrasing of the Alleluia and the moving passage in which she speaks of the fleeting sight of the Almighty were wonderfully expressive. As Gerontius, Joshua Ellicott was superb, a committed, dramatic interpretation, with every word audible, his virile tenor cutting thrillingly through the chorus and the orchestra.

photograph by Martin Cuthbert

THINGS TO COME – The Dream of Gerontius

THINGS TO COME – The Dream of Gerontius

Elgar’s matchless orchestration, a big choir and deeply religious subject matter: The Dream of Gerontius is always a memorable musical experience; and it’s one we can share in Chelmsford Cathedral on Saturday 18 November, thanks to the Waltham Singers and Andrew Fardell.

They’re joined on this occasion by Ensemble OrQuesta, with soloists Rebecca Afonwy Jones as the Angel, Joshua Ellicot as Gerontius and, as the Priest and the Angel of the Agony, Jeremy White.

Cardinal Newman's poem tells of the journey of a man's soul after death - 'Gerontius' means something like ‘old man’. Elgar was given a copy of the poem in 1889 as a wedding present; he eventually set it to music for the 1900 Birmingham festival. His score powerfully suggests the journey from deathbed to Judgement Seat.

The performance begins at 7:30, and tickets can be bought at Dace’s, on the door or via the Waltham Singers’ website

http://www.walthamsingers.org.uk/buytickets.html

MUSIC FOR LENT

MUSIC FOR LENT

Waltham Singers at King Edward VI School Chelmsford

18.03.17

Fauré's wondrous Requiem was the climax of this concert of music for the Lenten Period. Despite the secular surroundings, this was one of the most enthralling performances I've heard of this familiar work, with superb solos from baritone Adam Maxey and treble Angus Benton, and beautiful choral singing – the O Domine in the Offertory, the sensitively shaped Requiem Aeternam in the Agnus Dei and the diminuendo at the end of In Paradisum. In a performance close to what the composer himself might have known, the Singers were accompanied by Ensemble OrQuesta – two horns, harp and strings, with an eloquent solo violin for the Sanctus.

Laurence Lyndon-Jones at the organ accompanied the works in the first part, which included Allegri's Miserere, in a new version by Harry Christophers which aims to trace the evolution of the work from its simple origins to the form we know today. Some spectacular ornamentation from Choir II, in the furthest reaches of the balcony. Two Essex composers were featured: William Byrd with a setting of the Ash Wednesday motet Emendemus in Melius, and Alan Bullard with a new piece, the Penitential Psalms, based around the Ubi Caritas for Maundy Thursday. Impressively sung under the exacting direction of Andrew Fardell: dramatic lower voices for De Profundis, a telling repetition for “in generationem” and a sensitively sustained Amen at the close.

This work was commissioned by the Waltham Singers, using a bequest from my predecessor on the Chelmsford Weekly News, Peter Andrews. It will be heard again later this month in Belgium, as part of the choir's tour of Bruges and beyond.

THINGS TO COME – WALTHAM SINGERS MUSIC FOR LENT

THINGS TO COME – 

WALTHAM SINGERS MUSIC FOR LENT

Among the most consistently impressive of the local choral societies, Waltham Singers, under Andrew Fardell, increasingly look beyond their parish church, with concerts in Chelmsford Cathedral and overseas touring.
This March they are singing in King Edward VI School: two cornerstones of the choral repertoire, Allegri's Miserere and Fauré's Requiem. Plus the première of a new commission from Essex composer Alan Bullard -  Psalmos Penitentiales, funded by a bequest to the choir from Peter Andrews, much missed critic and patron of the arts, my predecessor at the Chelmsford Weekly News.
They will be joined, amongst others, by Laurence Lyndon Jones from Chelmsford Cathedral, Ensemble OrQuesta and BBC Chorister of the year Angus Benton. 

The concert is on March 18 at 7.30 pm in King Edward VI School.

Tickets from James Dace, the choir's website, or on the door.

MOZART AND HAYDN

Waltham Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral

19.11.16

Impressive music-making in the Cathedral. The massed ranks of the Waltham Singers, directed by Andrew Fardell, joined by the St Paul's Sinfonia and two outstanding string players.

Mostly Mozart, but Haydn to begin: the dramatic motet Insanae et Vanae Curae, one of his most popular choral works. A piece of two halves, with the urgent string passages setting the mood of fear and dread, underlined by brass and drums, before the calmer, more lyrical Quid prodest section. The voices conveyed the trepidation and the meditation in a beautifully controlled performance.

Mozart's C Minor Mass had its monumental moments, too – the closing pages of the Gloria, for instance – but precisely delivered pianissimo passages were equally powerful, from the opening Kyrie on. The soloist here was soprano Laurie Ashworth, whose contributions, notably the wonderful Et Incarnatus Est, were magnificently musical. The choir too were generally on excellent form, the diminuendo in the Sins of the World typical of their disciplined attention to detail.

Between these pillars of the sacred choral repertoire, the orchestra was joined by Julian Leaper and Martin Outram [both of the Maggini Quartet] for Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. A constant delight, with lyrical phrasing and impassioned dialogue between violin and viola. The emotional Andante was taken at a tempo which allowed the music to breathe, without losing its impetus, before the energetic Contradanza brought the work to a sunny conclusion.

DOVE, STRAVINSKY, ARNOLD

DOVE, STRAVINSKY, ARNOLD

Waltham Singers at King Edward VI School

12.03.16

Dove, Stravinksy, Arnold.
Names not often seen headlining a choral concert.
The Jonathan Dove was a world première, commissioned by Making Music. A lovely work, accessible for choirs and their audiences, it will surely prove lastingly popular, not least because it uses forces similar to those required by Orff's old war-horse Carmina Burana, including here the superb longfordbrown piano duo and the Percussion Ensemble of London.
It tells the ancient legend of Arion, the Voice winner who is saved from drowning by a passing Dolphin. The women are the chorus, the men the “manly shanty singing” sailors, the children [New Hall's Fibre Optic Choir] are the school of dolphins. Arion himself was sung by counter-tenor Benjamin Williamson; his first swan-song an exquisite duet with the xylophone. The percussion paints pictures together with Alasdair Middleton's witty, literate verse libretto – the sacred silver bell, the prize money, the splash as Arion leaps.
This new piece sounded comfortingly traditional after the other works: Malcolm Arnold's John Clare Cantata a revelation, a dark picture of the natural cycle of the year. Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, in an arrangement – not the recently recorded Shostakovich – for two pianos. The choir, conducted by Andrew Fardell, much more prominent – outstanding in the sinewy setting of Psalm 38, and in the Slavic sound of Psalm 150, with its exciting rhythms, its great bell, and some spectacular pianism.
Pianists and percussionists were given solo spots: Michael Parsons' minimalist Rhythm Studies II, and movements from Salzedo's spectacular Concerto for Percussion.
I understand that the Dove was given a simultaneous première down in Dulwich, where they had Robin Blaze and Carmina Burana ...

A SENSE OF PLACE

A SENSE OF PLACE

Waltham Singers at Great Waltham Church

20.06.15

Not for the first time, a world première for the Waltham Singers. For the 2015 summer concert they'd chosen A Sense of Place for their theme, and commissioned Jeffery Wilson to write a work in which the Singers could be joined by the Fibre Optics choir from New Hall School, both directed by Andrew Fardell.

“Songs of Home” proved an enjoyably accessible collection, with pictorial Haikus and Essex folk embraced within the ancient Offices of the Old Religion, the children's voices leading the way. Good to hear a fresh setting of Bushes and Briars, first collected in Ingrave by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and a “Ballad of Politics” of the same Edwardian vintage, penned by Charles Benham in the authentic accent of rural Essex.

The youngsters brought us another local composer, Armstrong Gibbs, with a lively setting of Five Eyes by Walter de la Mare.

And they gave a commendably crisp account of London Bells, the central setting in Bob Chilcott's Songs and Cries of London Town, which also featured a lovely lilting Flower of Cities All.

From further afield, Peter Maxwell Davies' Kestrel Road, with words from the Orkney poet George Mackay Brown, a joint commission of ten years ago. Good to have the words recited as well as sung; this evocative sequence was perhaps the piece mostly firmly rooted in its location – kirk and croft, school and smithy, manse and mill. Excellently sung, too, especially the challenging slow movement Windfall.

And to start, Elgar's tunefully Romantic Songs of the Bavarian Highlands – beautifully controlled clarity in False Love, and a lilting piano part in Lullaby.

The two accompanists – Laurence Lyndon-Jones and Weston Jennings – probably clocked up the most Air Miles, with duet Dances from Hungary and the Ukraine, Brahms and Dvorak.

A refreshingly eclectic summer offering, performed with the enthusiasm and attention to detail that make this choir so reliably impressive.

AT THE FOOT OF WATZMANN, BAVARIAN HIGHLANDS, 1857 BY CARL HAAG

THINGS TO COME - BAROQUE TREASURES

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber died three centuries ago, in 1704. He was born in a town in Bohemia in 1644, and like Mozart much later, he became closely associated with musical life in Salzburg through appointments for that city's archbishop. His Requiem in F minor is one of the Baroque Treasures unearthed by the Waltham Singers, with King Edward VI School standing in for Salzburg Cathedral, and the Singers supported by the renowned Meridian Sinfonia.
There's Vivaldi, too, and a Mass by the lesser known Zelanka, an 18^th century Czech composer at the court of Dresden.

7.30 on March 14 – tickets from Dace's – more details on

http://www.walthamsingers.org.uk/

Heinrich Biber, from a study by Preman Sotomayor

GREAT IS THE LORD

GREAT IS THE LORD

Waltham Singers at Great Waltham Church

21.06.2014

Music in Waltham for a June evening has been a fixture in the calendar since I began reviewing more than 40 years ago.

This year's concert, by the always impressive Waltham Singers under Andrew Fardell, was a varied selection of sacred music.

The home team was represented by Edward Elgar – his solemn, often dramatic Great Is The Lord – capped by that Balfour Gardiner warhorse, Evening Hymn, for eight-part choir and organ, with its dense harmonies and soaring architecture. William H Harris's contemplative setting of Donne, Howells' Salve Regina with Annabel Malton the solo soprano, and an upbeat motet by Stanford completed the English contribution.

The visitors fielded Monteverdi – exquisite late polyphony from Venice – his successor at San Marco, Antonio Lotti, whose Crucifixus was appropriately programmed just before the Credo, and Widor, represented here by a gloriously ostentatious Eastertide motet for choir and organ, with the stirring accompaniment played by Laurence Lyndon-Jones.

The Monteverdi sounded clear and immediate in this acoustic, and the Lotti, a wonderful showcase for the choir, was beautifully crafted, as the sound builds in this tense, anguished setting.

The choral contributions were interspersed with an equally eclectic selection from the Williams Kelleher Guitar Duo, including early English lute music – Echo, by Chester cleric Francis Pilkington, a charming version of Greensleeves – and a colourful group of pieces by the contemporary Argentine composer Pujol.

THE MUSIC OF MOZART

THE MUSIC OF MOZART

The Waltham Singers at KEGS

15.03.2014

Mozart attracted a good crowd for four of his greatest hits; and what a bargain we had. Two superb choral works, with a full orchestra, and two piano concertos, with the legendary local pianist Tim Carey at the keyboard.

First the Loreto Litanies, written for Salzburg Cathedral and performed here with dramatic depth of expression by the choir, and featuring an extended solo [Sancta Maria] from soprano Kirsty Hopkins, whose crystalline contributions were a highlight of both choral works. The second of which was the Coronation Mass, also for Salzburg, with its briskly portentous opening, and superb choral dynamics from the choir, directed by the expressive [virtual] baton of Andrew Fardell – the Credo particularly colourful. A strong quartet of soloists – heard to advantage in the Benedictus, and another glorious solo from Hopkins in the Agnus Dei.

The Andante of the Piano Concerto in G could easily have been a similar sacred aria. Eloquently phrased by Tim Carey, bringing an expressive delicacy to the line; the sunny finale was impressively done, too, with an obvious rapport between soloist and conductor, and the talented musicians of the Covent Garden Chamber Orchestra.

We are used to hearing the Waltham Singers in their own parish church, or in Chelmsford Cathedral. The acoustic in KEGS is drier, less forgiving. But so often in this exceptionally fine programme, the balance between soloist, choir and orchestra, and the clarity of Mozart's writing, seemed near perfect. A venture worth repeating, I'd suggest.

Kirsty Hopkins, soprano, and, courtesy of The Waltham Singers, 

the view from the choir ...

THE SEA SYMPHONY

THE SEA SYMPHONY

Waltham Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral

16.11.13

Vaughan Williams' monumental Sea Symphony is almost a cantata. The choir, like the ocean itself, is an ever-present force of nature, enriching the orchestral palette.

The text – from Whitman's Leaves of Grass – is sublime, of course, but rarely heard in its entirety. And that was certainly the case for the Waltham Singers performance, when both the impressive choral forces and the two excellent soloists were often no match for the orchestra. The Salomon Orchestra was in fine form, with brass, strings and percussion effectively painting the seascape.

The choir did have their more traditional moments – the unaccompanied “Greater than the Stars or Sun”, or the breathtaking opening to The Explorers.

Andrew Fardell's firm direction ensured a memorably eloquent, vivid reading: the brooding On the Beach at Night Alone, the dramatic end to the hymn-like The Waves, and the meticulously judged, and deeply moving envoi, “further sail ...”

Our soloists were baritone Andrew Rupp, who impressed especially in the second Sea Drift sequence, and soprano Katherine Crompton, wrapped in a black fur coat in the chilly cathedral, rising thrillingly above the marine soundscape in “all brave captains”, for instance.

Two orchestral works began the programme: Brahms Variation on a Theme by Haydn, with a fine cantabile in the Grazioso, and a solemn, triumphant Andante finale. And, appropriately, Mendelssohn's Calm Sea and a Prosperous Voyage, the delicate string texture of still waters giving way to wind-powered forward movement, and a safe arrival heralded by a trumpet fanfare.

A SUMMER CELEBRATION

A SUMMER CELEBRATION

Waltham Singers in Great Waltham Church

22.06.13

Celebrating their fortieth season, this concert was an impressive meeting of past and future, sacred and profane. Based largely on the music they took with them on their tour of Venice last month.

It began with a sequence of church music from Byrd to Rutter – his simple, fervent God Be In My Head. These were some of the pieces that the Singers have shared with us over the years – Bruckner's Locus Iste, for example - and included a performance of Victoria's Misa O Magnum Mysterium. Superbly balanced blend of voices in Tallis's O Nata Lux, and the splendour of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus to end.

All directed with inspirational enthusiasm and eloquent precision by Andrew Fardell, who confessed that after the interval they were straying outside their comfort zone, loosening up a little. No need to worry, since the next three numbers were all arrangements for The Kings Singers, who have proved better than anyone that letting your hair down doesn't mean letting your standards slip.

Excellent work, and hugely entertaining, especially the I'm A [High Speed] Train encore. [Though some of us might have appreciated the contrasting nostalgia of Slow Train, from the same album, I think ...] 

Guest artist for the evening was singer/pianist Claire Harper, who gave us some great jazz standards, unmediated by microphones, and then joined the Singers for a heady mix of the cool and the choral, especially in Gershwin's S'wonderful.

video of Tallis in Venice by Gwyneth's friend Helen ...

VERDI REQUIEM

VERDI REQUIEM

Waltham Singers in Chelmsford Cathedral

16.03.13

Celebrating forty years of music-making, the Waltham Singers filled Chelmsford Cathedral with Verdi's gloriously theatrical Requiem.

Andrew Fardell has been at the helm for most of those years, and his inspirational direction was never more in evidence than here [the breathless silence after the final bars a measure of the effect of this memorable milestone]: the dramatic dynamics were carefully measured, allowing some effects of contrast – hushed murmured "requiem aeternam" against apocalyptic "dies irae" – which counted for much more than mere firepower. The thundering drum beats were given added impact by a brisk tempo and excellent diction from the choir, who were on magnificent form here, especially in the closing Libera Me, the energetic double chorus Sanctus and the sincerely sung Agnus Dei.

Mixed fortunes from our quartet of soloists: Phillip Joll's baritone was a commanding presence, and John Pierce's tenor made a fine entry in the Kyrie, and a polished Hostia. When the voices of Sarah Pring and Kimberly Myers blended, in the Recordare, say, or the Agnus Dei, the result was spell-binding. And Verdi would surely have approved of Myers' fervent prayer in the moving final moments, serendipitously backed by the chimes of the Cathedral clock.

The orchestra was the splendid Salomon, making a huge contribution to the impact of this performance, with superb work from the brass, not least the trumpets sounding the Tuba Mirum.

WALTHAM SINGERS

WALTHAM SINGERS

Christmas Concert at the Parish Church

08.12.2012

A Yuletide cornucopia from Andrew Fardell and the Waltham Singers, avoiding the obvious and celebrating the coming of the Light of the World.

James MacMillan's muscular O Radiant Dawn made an impressive opener, one of several works by living composers, including Colin Mawby's late-flowering Romantic Ave Maria, Morten Lauridsen's hypnotic O Magnum Mysterium, and Eric Whitacre's justly famous Lux Aurumque, performed with filigree-fine vocal textures.

With the Meridian Sinfonia, the Singers gave us a fine Vivaldi Gloria to finish, with solos from Geoff Coates' oboe, Richard Fomison's natural trumpet, Sarah Potter, soprano, and Edward McMullan, counter-tenor, who also sang But Who May Abide, from Messiah, before the choir's For Unto Us, beautifully realised, the placing of the voices bringing out the drama and the power of Handel's choral writing.

Under Andrew Fardell, their Musical Director for the past 30 years, the Waltham Singers' sound is strong, agile and disciplined; their audience packed the church. They celebrate 40 years in 2013, with Verdi's Requiem in Chelmsford Cathedral.

SUMMER CONCERT

SUMMER CONCERT

Waltham Singers in the Parish Church

Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee and the joys of summer – despite a damp sky and cool breeze – the Waltham Singers brought us some very polished singing, and some fine pianism as well.
The summery pieces included a controlled but expressive Brahms' Zigeunerlieder, in the original German, and Bob Chilcott's hugely enjoyable Fables from Aesop. The words crucial here too, and I was very impressed with the articulation, especially in the titles and the morals – Slow But Steady, Much Ado, Sour Grapes and so on – which were models of choral speaking.

Alan Bullard's Summer Garland was commissioned by the choir ten years ago for the Golden Jubilee. "Pleasantly pastoral" I called it then, and it was good to hear it again, given two performances astride the interval. The busy bee, with buzzing and description tossed around amongst the voices, the idyllic acrostic epilogue from Alice, and the lively dance of the holiday Summer Queen were all imaginatively set and beautifully performed. Britten's Choral Dances – opening with a joyous peal of bells – also harked back to the Coronation.

The accompanist was Tim Carey, who gave us bonuses by Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and, delightfully appropriate, Grainger's jolly Country Gardens, in duet with Kate Hanson.

POULENC GLORIA & STABAT MATER

POULENC GLORIA & STABAT MATER

Waltham Singers in Chelmsford Cathedral

12.11.11

Two Poulenc choral masterpieces at the core of this well programmed concert.

The Gloria, from 1959, is a work of contrasts tempi, harmonies, dynamics all keep the listeners [and I imagine the performers] on their toes. The effect is vivacious, iconoclastic and wonderfully moving. The singers, under the direction of Andrew Fardell, gave an intense, dramatic reading of the work: the lusciously phrased Suscipe, the lively Domine Fili, the powerful Amen all impressively crafted. The large band the work demands was the Salomon Orchestra, excellently extrovert, though at times there were balance problems with the singers ranged behind, and some loss of clarity.

The solo soprano effortlessly filling the Cathedral and marvellously expressive in the Dominus Deus was Stefanie Kemball-Read.

The same forces are used in the Stabat Mater, performed with controlled energy by the choir, with some lovely sustained effects the word Filius, for instance and a beautiful texture and sheen to the choral sound. And, again, a thrilling Amen.

The carefully chosen instrumental fillers provided a meaningful context for the Poulenc Stravinsky, Ravel, and late Debussy, his nostalgic Berceuse Heroique, written for the war effort in 1914, a resonant lullaby for the fallen on this Armistice weekend.