An unusually balmy April evening brought out a large audience to St John’s Church for Keswick Choral Society’s Songs for Springtime concert.
And they were in for a treat. The choir, under the leadership of musical director Ian Hare, was in good form and the young professional soloists, soprano Nikki Martin and baritone Jonny Hill, excellent.
A drum roll on organ pedals by talented young organist David T Shingler heralded Dvorak’s Te Deum, a celebratory start to the programme.
The work was new to me, and probably quite challenging for the singers, but they rose to the occasion splendidly. Ian Hare drew out a joyful sound from the choir, while the organ accompaniment was supportive and sensitive and the fanfare finale uplifting.
The rest of the evening lived up to the standard set by the Dvorak, with a programme which brought very different musical styles and changes of mood.
A very English offering followed: Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs, his settings of poems by 17th century poet George Herbert, opening with Easter, then I Got Me Flowers – featuring a particularly lovely baritone solo – and followed by Love Bade Me Welcome, and The Call, whose air is reminiscent of the folk songs Vaughan Williams was busy collecting during the period 1906-1911, when he composed Five Mystical Songs.
The joyful Antiphon, brought the piece, and the first half of the concert, to a triumphant close.
After the interval, the programme continued with a little Mendelssohn. Hear Ye, Israel!, which provided a great showcase for the soprano soloist, and then the choir’s ‘He, watching over Israel’: both well-loved classics from Elijah.
The Sprig of Thyme, a series of arrangements of well-known folk songs by popular choral composer John Rutter, was the centrepiece of this half of the evening, featuring Ian Hare on piano, which brought a nice variety to the ear as well as providing added colour and texture to the work, which also featured some unaccompanied singing.
A programme note by Rutter explained that the songs were those popularly taught in schools in the post-war period, and the series opened with the Tyneside favourite The Keel Row. Then followed the eponymous The Sprig of Thyme and Down by the Sally Gardens – WB Yeats’s reconstruction of an old Irish ballad – and a song whose words and tune I always find particularly poignant and affecting. The choir sang it well.
Then followed The Cuckoo and I Know Where I’m Going, with Robert Burns’ Afton Water to finish the set, complete with beautifully rippling piano accompaniment.
The concert was brought to a fittingly seasonal end with Mascagni’s joyful Easter Hymn, featuring a soaring soprano solo and beautifully rich choral singing.
In the immortal words of George Herbert, skill and confidence are an unconquered army, and Keswick Choral Society, under Ian Hare’s expert musical direction, clearly demonstrated this tonight. Congratulations to all involved.
