AUTUMN CONCERT

AUTUMN CONCERT

Chelmsford Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral

04.11.17

Three dramatic choral works from the Singers made up a very satisfying programme for this second concert of their 90^th anniversary season.

Revelatory, too, since the first offering was Harold Darke’s A Song of David – setting the same psalm as Parry’s celebrated I Was Glad. A rare opportunity to hear this Festival Anthem, with its striking opening from the strings and the Cathedral organ - Christopher Strange. The choir enjoyed the challenge of this bold music – old-fashioned, perhaps, but very stirring stuff. The bridging passage before the prayer for peace was a lovely violin solo from Robert Atchison, leading the Chelmsford Sinfonietta for this concert.

In an inspired bonus, he was joined by Tim Carey for Darke’s Sonata No 3 for Violin and Piano. These two excellent musicians had to prepare the performing edition for themselves – it turned out to be expansively eloquent chamber music in the late Romantic English tradition, with, especially in the slow movement of Darke’s First Sonata which followed, some reflective, more sombre moments.

Two familiar choral favourites followed. Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, in the version for organ, harp and percussion which seemed ideally suited to this space and these vocal forces. A rousing opening – then the “joyful noise” Hariu. The 23^rd Psalm beautifully sung by Elliot Harding-Smith, his mature treble absolutely right for this soulful setting. Interrupted by the men’s voices as the raging nations, before the optimistic close and its unison Amen.

Duruflé’s Requiem, based largely on the Gregorian Mass for the Dead, is a demandingly intricate work, heard here in the version for organ and string quartet, with contributions from the harp, the trumpets and the timpani. But it did feature both soloists – Colin Baldy’s baritone in the Hostias and the Libera Me, and Katherine Marriott’s richly expressive mezzo in the Pie Jesu. An impassioned plea, matched for drama by the choir, especially in the Domine, Jesu Christe and the Dies Irae. Fine choral singing, under the baton of James Davy, from the tranquillity of the Introit to the beautiful otherworldliness of the In Paradisum, Duruflé’s devout evocation of the life to come.

AUTUMN CONCERT

AUTUMN CONCERT

Essex Symphony Orchestra at Christ Church Chelmsford

21.11.15

Second symphonic Siegfried Idyll in less than a week. Last Sunday, the BBC Concert Orchestra, and this Saturday the Essex Symphony under Tom Hammond. Lovely sound from the strings here – the winds somewhat exposed on the back row, but all blending to excellent emotional effect in the climactic moments.

Wagner wrote his intimate original for his wife's birthday; he was a great admirer of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony - “[it] carries us away with bacchanalian power through the roomy space of nature” he wrote. Performed by the ESO, leader Philippa Barton, with splendid attack and rhythmic drive. Even the Allegretto second movement – theme from The King's Speech – was infused with energy, not just a solemn dirge. The Allegro Con Brio finale, too, sustained its impetus till the last triumphant bars.

Emma Hanlan was the soloist in Nielsen's Flute Concerto. A suitably spiky, forthright approach from the orchestra, the soloist audaciously holding her own in free-flowing conversations with clarinet and other soloists – including trombone and timpani ! Her approach was teasing and enigmatic, her tone beautifully crafted throughout the range.

This was the first concert in the ESO's new season. Coming up later, Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony in Chelmsford Cathedral, and Mozart's exquisite Sinfonia Concertante next July.