The Chanctonbury Concert which took place on Saturday 2nd February in St. Andrew’s Church, Steyning, was billed as a Schubert Extravaganza and with exclusively Schubertian works on offer, that was pretty much what it was.
The concert began with the Overture to Rosamunde played by the 27 piece Chanctonbury Chorus Orchestra leader Elaine Patience. This was a good opening choice for the evening’s music, since it set the tone for the rest of the concert. The Overture is scored for flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons in pairs, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, timpani, and strings and lasts for about 10 minutes. It is sometimes considered to be one of Schubert's finest orchestral pieces, filled with often catchy tunes and demonstrating his characteristic warm heartedness and good humour in a masterly utilisation of the orchestra's resources.
The Chanctonbury Chorus Orchestra has improved almost beyond recognition over the years. It is now a highly professional sounding ensemble and under the baton of the leader of Chanctonbury Chorus Siobhan Denning, produces a nicely crafted balance of sound sensitive to the needs of the singers that it usually accompanies. There is no singing in this opening piece, so the orchestra did not have that consideration but the sound produced was pleasant and enjoyable and well received by the almost capacity audience.
Emma Brain-Gabbott who had stepped into the Soprano role at the very last minute when Claire Seaton was forced to pull out at short notice showed that she has a lovely voice and she sang with great confidence and accuracy. The other soloists were the very professional Mezzo Soprano Susan Legg, two Tenors Stephen Brown and William Blake and Bass Stephen Foulkes and as with most concerts given by this choir, I was most impressed by the amazing professionalism demonstrated by these soloists.
Following the orchestral piece the soloists, with the exception of William Blake, performed four Partsongs accompanied at the piano by the highly accomplished Brian Sawyer resident organist of the St. Andrew’s Church. These four Partsongs are written in German but even with somebody like me struggling to get to grips with this Germanic language, the soloists enunciated the words so clearly that I was able to follow lyrics with relative ease.
The four Partsongs are written for a quartet of mixed voices. The four singers performed these lively and tuneful works as though they had been singing together for many years. The songs have the titles Lebenslust D.609, An Die Sonne D.439, Schicksalslenker D.763 and Der Tanz D826. Although I was not familiar with these songs An Die Sonne must have served as the inspiration for Howard Goodall’s signature tune to the BBC TV series Blackadder.
The final work in the first part of the concert was Ave Maria arranged for three-part treble voices by Henry Geehi. The ladies of the choir split into three well balanced parts for this piece. This particular arrangement is pleasant without being particularly exciting but it was performed well and was well received by the audience.
The second part of the concert was devoted to the Mass No. 6 in E Flat D 950. This mass, which was composed in the last year of Schubert’s life, expresses anything but the joyful message of the Resurrection. The Kyrie rings out with tormented doubts and deep despair which changes only with the string triplets in the Gloria. The acapella entry of the choir in the Gloria was excellent and I felt that the basses and tenors did particularly well in this section. In the Creed Schubert places an accented question behind each ‘I believe’ which, I felt highlighted the well practiced articulation and accentuation on the part of the choir as well as the inspired playing by the orchestra
Once again in the Agnus Dei the tone of the music is predominantly overcast and gloomy with all the sins of the world on its shoulders when all supplications for mercy seem to be passing unheeded. All hope seems lost until the prayer for peace in the Dona Nobis Pacem brings with it the first green shoots of hope for the world.
This provided a moving conclusion to the concert which was followed by enthusiastic applause for all the performers. |
