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.

NINETIETH ANNIVERSARY GALA CONCERT

NINETIETH ANNIVERSARY GALA CONCERT

The Chelmsford Singers

at Chelmsford Cathedral

01.07.17

A glorious celebration for the Singers' ninetieth, with a programme of three dramatic show-stoppers.

Borodin provided the bold opener, with the Polovtsian Dances – a first for the Singers, we think. No actual dancing, but a welcome opportunity to enjoy the choral writing, often omitted in concert performance. The men have the macho posturing, leaving the lovely tune to the women's voices.

Britten's St Nicolas was the centre-piece, the popular cantata giving all the vocal forces a chance to shine, under the hortatory baton of Musical Director James Davy. Only the audience, perhaps, failed to rise to the challenge of the congregational hymns. A splendid Nicolas from tenor Paul Smy – a spine-tingling moment when the boy [sung by chorister Nicholas Harding-Smith] becomes the man, and a touching final movement in which the choir's Nunc Dimittis is blended with the saint's acceptance of death. The Cathedral boys were present at the ordination, and the girls made excellent contributions in the storm and in the episode of the Pickled Boys. The accompaniment, with lovely string sounds in the Nicolas from Prison movement, was by the Chelmsford Sinfonietta, led by Robert Atchison.

This memorable evening ended with Orff's cod-medieval Carmina Burana, in the 1956 version for percussion and two pianos [Robert Elms and Helen Crayford, both brilliant] which lets the choir take centre stage. Despite the composer's intentions, and all the show-off effects, there is less drama here than in the Britten, but this was a hugely enjoyable performance – the Singers gave us sublime simplicity in the Springtime, and rustic energy On the Green.

Three superb soloists: Smy again as the unfortunate roasting swan, a sublime In Trutina and a spectacularly abandoned Dulcissime from Elizabeth Roberts, singing from memory, and baritone Colin Baldy, bearing the brunt of the solos. In the Tavern – a men-only zone – he gave us a crisply articulated confession, and a bibulous abbot. Later, in the Court of Love, after a marvellously risqué number from the men of the Cathedral Choir, he led the Cathedral Boys from east to west – the abbot and his acolytes, maybe – in Totus Floreo.

And through the open North Door, unbidden birdsong from the churchyard paid tribute to the music, and to the Singers as they enter their tenth decade.

pictures from the post-concert gathering in the Chapter House

THINGS TO COME – CHELMSFORD SINGERS

THINGS TO COME – CHELMSFORD SINGERS

The Chelmsford Singers celebrate their 90^th anniversary with a gala concert on July 1^st. Sung in Chelmsford Cathedral, traditionally their principal venue, it's an ambitious, but popular, programme, with Britten, Orff and Borodin in the mix.
The Singers were formed by William Bush back in 1927 – he was their conductor until 1945, when he was succeeded by Roland Middleton, the first in a distinguished line of Cathedral Masters of the Music to hold the post; James Davy, the present incumbent, will conduct this gala concert, when the Singers will be joined by voices from the Cathedral's choirs, as well as soloists and the Chelmsford Sinfonietta.

picture shows the Chelmsford Singers on their tour to Belgium earlier this year.

SPRING CONCERT

SPRING CONCERT

Chelmsford Singers at St Luke's Tiptree

01.04.17

In the Victorian church at Tiptree, a fascinating evening of unaccompanied song settings, inspired in part by the earliest days of the Chelmsford Singers, ninety years ago.

James Davy and the Singers began with an early Weelkes madrigal, but from then on it was music from the twentieth century: folk song settings from Vaughan Williams, including a powerful Lover's Ghost, and the well-known, if unseasonal, Wassail Song. Another folk song enthusiast, who also drew inspiration from the Essex countryside, was Gustav Holst, contributing six settings, including an intricate There Was a Tree, an energetic Blacksmith and, before the rollicking sea shanty, a moving I Love My Love, with a tellingly fragmented refrain.

Huddersfield-born Robert Cockcroft, newspaperman, organist and composer, was represented by Three Yorkshire Folk Songs, culminating in a toe-tapping, nonsensical Acre of Land.

Frank Bridge's Five Part Songs set poems, including Shelley's Autumn. The same poet's Music When Soft Voices Die was beautifully sung here, as was the Tennyson's whimsical Bee.

The acoustic here is bright and supportive, ideally suited to a programme where words are important, and the interweaving of the parts needs to be clearly defined.

The choir's 90^th Anniversary celebrations continue with a Gala Concert in Chelmsford Cathedral on July 1^st, with two crowd-pleasers, Britten's Saint Nicolas and Orff's Carmina Burana.

POULENC FOR PASSIONTIDE

POULENC FOR PASSIONTIDE

Chelmsford Singers in Chelmsford Cathedral

19.03.16

James Davy's visionary programming of an all-Poulenc concert to mark the start of Holy Week was preceded by a talk on the composer - ”le moine ou le voyou” - by composer and author the Revd Canon Chris Chivers.
This fascinating evening culminated with a rare chance to hear a live performance of the Stabat Mater. Like much of Poulenc's religious work, it is a heady blend of the sensual and the austere. Beginning with a sombre march, reminiscent of the more emotional moments of Dialogue des Carmelites. The Singers gave an impressive account of the challenging choral writing: the emphatic Quis est homo, the celebratory Eja Mater, the urgent Inflammatus et accensus. They were joined by soprano soloist Julia Wilson-James for key moments such as the tenth movement – and soaring wonderfully over choir and orchestra in the climactic Paradisi Gloria.
The orchestra was the Chelmsford Sinfonietta, led on this occasion by Robert Atchison. They provided powerful underpinning to the other major choral work on offer, the Litanies à la Vierge noire, the timpani and the strings foreshadowing some of the effects in the Organ Concerto which followed, with soloist Oliver Brett.

This popular showpiece – moving deftly from Bach to burlesque and back again - had a plaintively eloquent string sound to start, then the orchestra bounding playfully through the Allegro Giocoso, the organ excelling in the viscerally thrilling fortissimo passages before the tranquil Largo coda, solo viola against rhythmic strings and a sustained pedal note.

MERRILY ON HIGH!

MERRILY ON HIGH!

Chelmsford Singers at the Cathedral

19.12.15

David Willcocks, doyen of choral Christmas, who died in September at the age of 95, was well represented in this upbeat selection box for choir, audience and brass.

Ding Dong ! Merrily on High, with decorative organ filigree from Laurence Lyndon-Jones, O Come All Ye Faithful, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, and a rousing Hark the Herald to start, with fanfare from the excellent Westminster Brass. We were treated to four instrumental pieces from them, including a jolly Sussex Carol, two sleigh rides from East and West, and a Christmas Cracker which turned out to be more of a garland, a string of carols from Realms of Glory to Wenceslas.

The choral highlight was Cecilia McDowall's brand new Cantata for Christmas, A Winter's Night. An inventive sequence of five English, German and French carols linked by instrumental bridges from brass quintet, percussion and organ, given an impressive, joyous performance by the Singers. The quintet also featured in Rutti's Three Carols; the Presto climax a rhythmically exciting Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day.

Plenty of opportunity for us to match our lung power against the might of brass and organ, including a lighter Willcocks arrangement of Jingle Bells. Musical Director James Davy, sporting a festive scarlet bow tie, confessed to blowing the entire budget for this Christmas Concert on the band, imploring us to jingle our car keys in lieu of Sleigh Bells ...

WAR AND PEACE

WAR AND PEACE

Chelmsford Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral

28.03.15

Seventy years ago, the Allies, Canadians in the forefront, were busy liberating the Netherlands. In a matter of weeks, the war in Europe would be over.

This timely concert commemorates the end of WWII, with a masterly sequence, beginning with Richard Tanner's setting of Desmond Tutu's Prayer for Peace. More of an affirmation, in truth, with powerful singing from the choir, and a moving diminuendo at its close.

The accompanying musicians – Tim Carey, piano, Joy Farrall, clarinet, David Juritz, violin, and Adrian Bradbury, cello, played five movements from Messiaen's extraordinary Quartet for the End of Time, written and performed in a German PoW camp. Farrall exploited the clarinet's versatile voice impressively in The Abyss of the Birds; Carey and Bradbury gave a wonderful account of the mesmeric Homage to the Eternity of Jesus. It would have been good to hear the whole work, especially in the context of this “meditation”, as the Dean called it, which concluded with Annelies, by James Whitbourn.

It is a tuneful musical setting of words from Anne Frank's diary, haunting and heartfelt without ever being sentimental - a unique opportunity to share the experience of this most intimate writing with the musicians, the choir and the audience in the Cathedral. The composer's palette encompasses sounds and symbols from life in the Amsterdam annex, moments of Music Hall, Bach and plainchant, with clarinet and violin giving a Jewish colour to much of the scoring. Nicola Howard, soprano, gave an operatic – in the best sense – reading of her sequences, bringing the character to life, lifting the notes off the stave. The choir, under the empowering baton of James Davy, gave an expressive account of the many different moods and emotions: the determined trudge of We're Jews in Chains, the optimism of the spring awakening, and the passion of the Kyrie, a plea for mercy between Anne's nightmares – the dread of discovery, bitter sadness for the loss of friends.

THINGS TO COME - ANNELIES

Remembering Anne Frank in words and music

In a concert to commemorate the ending of World War II seventy years ago, (Chelmsford Cathedral, Saturday 28 March 7.30 pm), Chelmsford Singers will perform the rarely heard oratorio Annelies, by James Whitbourn – a versatile composer with an international reputation for choral music.

Anne (Annelies) Frank died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945, shortly before it was liberated. Her father, the only survivor of the family, later published her diary as The Diary of a Young Girl - since translated into many languages.

Taking words from Anne’s diary – by turns dramatic, mundane, optimistic, fearful - the composer paints a moving musical picture of the family’s life in hiding in an Amsterdam annexe up to the point of their betrayal and capture.

The concert will also feature excerpts from Quartet for the End of Time, by Olivier Messiaen, written while Messiaen was a prisoner of war in Germany, and first performed in January 1941 by the composer and fellow prisoners to an audience of prisoners and guards.

James Whitbourn will talk about Annelies in Chelmsford Cathedral at 6.45 pm on Saturday 28 March. On Friday 27 March at 2.00 pm Mala Tribich, a survivor of the Holocaust, will speak and answer questions about her experiences during World War II. Admission is free to both these events. Tickets for the concert are available from

info@chelmsfordsingers.co.uk , choir members or James Dace and Son, 22 Broomfield Road, Chelmsford CM1 1SW Tel: 01245 352133.

JOY TO THE WORLD

JOY TO THE WORLD

Chelmsford Singers at St John the Baptist Danbury

20.12.2014

Making his first visit to the Church on the Hill, James Davy proved a genial host for this seasonal mix of old and new.

Beginning with a spectacular setting of Joy to the World from the choir, sounding fresh and enthusiastic in the charming, if slightly chilly, church. Other choral highlights were a crisply sung Sir Christemas, Sund's tender Newborn Child [sung in the original Swedish] and the timeless simplicity of Davy's own arrangement of There Is No Rose, an English carol almost as ancient as this medieval building.

The pews were packed; the congregational singing was impressive, too, joining the choir in a suitably schmaltzy version of White Christmas, and John Rutter's imaginative I Saw Three Ships, with tuneful whistling from the assembled gentlemen Josephs.

Weston Jennings, accompanying on piano and organ, gave us a Baroque Pastorale solo, and there were readings from Dylan Thomas and Robert Bridges, whose Christmas Eve 1913 seemed especially appropriate for this country church.

The old words came to me

by the riches of time

Mellow’d and transfigured

as I stood on the hill

Heark’ning in the aspect

of th’ eternal silence.

MONTEVERDI'S VESPERS OF 1610

MONTEVERDI'S VESPERS OF 1610

at Chelmsford Cathedral

15.11.2014

It's one of the greatest works of Western sacred music. But we can't be sure why Monteverdi wrote it, or where, or for whom. Did he intend it to be performed as published ? With what forces, in what context ?

This intriguing uncertainty has given musicians creative freedom to interpret this monumental setting; James Davy's performance with the Chelmsford Singers, his Cathedral choir, a first-rate roster of soloists and a superb period band, effectively blended the devotional and the dramatic.

Every corner of the Cathedral was explored, it seemed, with the capacity audience in two facing blocks along the nave. A spectacular opening, with the choristers before the altar opposite the massed choirs at the West End. Exquisitely sung solos from the ambos for The Song of Songs; duet, trio and ensemble dictated by Duo, Tres and Omnes, choristers for the Sonata, trebles for the decorated, divided Gloria in the surround-sound climax of the Magnificat. And the echo in Audi Coelum drifting down from the quaint gothic balcony over the South Door.

The choral sound was superbly shaped, with some luscious harmonies, illuminated by the brass and rounded by the architecture. The six soloists were all the more effective for being mobile and close to their audience: the intimate Nigra Sum, the sombre, subdued Deposuit.

Canzona, with their director Theresa Caudle on violin and cornett, gave colourful, often virtuosic support to the vocal forces.

More than 100 performers were involved in this memorable occasion – it is a measure of their success that our applause persisted until the very last of them had left the nave.

EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM

EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM

Chelmsford Singers at the Cathedral

05.04.2014

An impressive reading of this mighty work, in the version with piano accompaniment, which Brahms made for an early London performance.

The four hands on this occasion belonged to Tim Carey and Martin Sanders-Hewett, no strangers to our County Town.

James Davey's firm direction brought out the light and shade of the scoring, especially in the familiar fourth movement and in the sombre final section, ending on a movingly muted note.

The clarity achieved in this small-scale version was immediately obvious in the opening Selig Sind, with powerful entries from the choir. The solemn processional which follows was particularly well shaped, with the sunshine breaking through towards the end.

The soloists were baritone Michael Pearce, excellent in the sixth movement, before the dramatic contribution of the choir, and a wonderful soprano in Cecilia Osmond – her voice was strong but unforced, and her approach to the text was warm and sympathetic.

With its complex and constantly shifting dynamics, and an unusually substantial role for the chorus, this is a challenging work for any choir; the Chelmsford Singers responded magnificently, in a performance of stylish assurance.

TIDINGS OF JOY

TIDINGS OF JOY
Chelmsford Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral

21.12.13

The Manchester Carols is a Christmas sequence for the 21^st century, written by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy with music by Sasha Johnson Manning.

And, just as at the Royal Northern six years ago, the composer was on hand to sing the soprano solos.

The twelve carols are linked by narration [Malcolm Kimmance the reader], and together they re-tell the familiar myths and legends, embroidered by the popular imagination, and often strikingly vivid – the shivering shepherds and the glamorous camels, and most poignant of all, Joseph wandering through trees, his carpenter's craftsmanship seeing their wood become cradle, coffin and cross.

The carols are bookended by The Carol Singers' Carol and the unashamedly populist Present Song – a catchy, bouncy number and, rather like The Twelve Days of Christmas [also programmed here], an eclectic list of gifts: armagnac, frankincense, cardigans ...

The music is tuneful and accessible, with colourful orchestral writing. Sung with enthusiasm by the Chelmsford Singers, directed by James Davy, and joined by the red and blue jumpers of children from the Cathedral Primary School and Our Lady Immaculate, the Chelmsford Sinfonietta [leader Rolf Wilson] and baritone Robert Garland.

He was also the soloist in a wonderful performance of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols, with rich resonant sounds from the strings and robust choral singing. Plenty more seasonal goodies for the packed Cathedral to savour – Davy's Stokowskian setting of Adeste Fideles, Good King Wenceslas, Silent Night and Britten's lovely New Year Carol:

“Open you the West Door, and turn the Old Year go ...”

MUSIC FOR A SUMMER'S EVENING

MUSIC FOR A SUMMER'S EVENING

Chelmsford Singers at Chelmsford Cathedral

15.06.13

Rare summer sunshine as we arrive at the Cathedral for a programme which must be one of the most demanding the Singers have given, devoted in the main to the work of Benjamin Britten in his centenary year.

The climax was five of the Gerard Manley Hopkins settings which make up AMDG, not performed until after the composer's death. Challenging both vocally and intellectually, the poetry as dense and complex as the score. The Singers, guided confidently through the work by James Davy, gave an impressive account, culminating in the positive, powerful Soldier.

More accessible, perhaps, was the opening work, the Choral Dances from Gloriana, the peal of Time, the comfortable harmonies of Concord and the gleeful Country Girls. And the Flower Songs, the last of which, Green Broom, with the rhythmic pulse of the title passing from upper to lower voices – fiendishly difficult, but great fun.

The Agnus Dei from the War Requiem set the poetry of Wilfred Owen, movingly sung by the young tenor Richard Robbins, against the Latin Lamb of God from the choir. Robbins also gave us dramatic performances of the first Canticle and the Cradle Song for Eleanor.

Breathing space for the singers was provided by organ tributes to Victoria and Monteverdi by Britten and Tippett, whose Songs from the British Isles, including a lively Lilliburlero, opened the second half.

CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR

CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR

Chelmsford Singers in Chelmsford Cathedral

15.12.2012

A Christmas present from the Singers to the City, gift-wrapped in sparkling candlelight.

Spectacular it certainly was, thanks in large measure to the contribution of Westminster Brass, who gave us some splendid arrangements of seasonal favourites, from a medieval Pat-a-Pan to Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride, with party poppers obbligato.

They also played magnificent fanfares for Hark The Herald and O Come All Ye Faithful, in which the audience joined. We were also cajoled into the much more challenging Rutter arrangement of I Saw Three Ships, and then Wenceslas and The Twelve Days of Christmas.

The brass players, and percussion, were to the fore in the central work – Rutter's Gloria, with soloist soprano Beverley Lockyer, and beautiful playing from Jacob Ewens, this year's Organ Scholar. The Singers, under their new director, James Davy, gave a nuanced, energetic performance; they shone in three contrasting Peter Warlock carols, and in the gentle "wild card" – Sund's A Child Is Born, sung in the original Swedish.

A shmaltzy "White Christmas" and "A Merry Christmas" rounded off an enjoyable evening, innovative and refreshingly varied.

More innovation for Christmas 2013, when we're promised Duffy and Manning's Manchester Carols.