THE STONEHAVEN CHORUS CHRISTMAS WITH THE CHORUS
DUNNOTTAR CHURCH, STONEHAVEN
Sunday, 16 December 2007
Alan Cooper
A capacity audience at this year’s annual Christmas concert in Dunnottar Church on Sunday afternoon raised their voices to the rafters to join with the Stonehaven Chorus in singing some of the best loved hymns and carols that have come to define the traditional Christmas. What gave Sunday’s concert its unique cachet however was the selection of choral gems unearthed by conductor Dr John Hearne with which the Chorus proceeded to surprise and delight the audience. Some, like the two items taken from the Cantata Hodie by Vaughan Williams were revivals from an unjustly neglected work, others like the Polish carols were arrangements by Dr Hearne of pieces popular in their country of origin, but not well known here. Martin Dalby’s Of thy human heart was a first performance and Percy Fletcher’s Ring out, wild bells was a revival of a magical piece that had ceased to be performed because it had come to be sniffed at as “old fashioned”.
Most of the pieces were performed unaccompanied and several used antiphonal effects, that is to say two competing choirs placed at either side of the church. Bruckner’s motet, Virga Jesse floruit brought the richness of the full centrally focused choir into play while Jacob Handl’s Resonet in Laudibus used the two separate choirs in a relatively simple way. O beatum et sacrosanctum diem by Peter Philips, an English renaissance composer who worked in Flanders was far more complex, producing some wonderful chiming choral sounds. Pearsall’s arrangement of the traditional German carol In dulci jubilo also employed the two choir strategy to marvellous effect. There is no rose by John Coath used soft quintessentially English harmonies but in his Christ Child, David Harries employs much more adventurous harmonic language to underline the dark words of a text that looks forward to the ominous future fate of the sleeping Christ Child. John Hearne inserted No sad thought from Hodie by Vaughan Williams at this point to provide a telling contrast in emotions.
Martin Dalby’s Of thy human heart had more than a little of the Eastern European flavour of music by the likes of Zoltan Kodaly about it and was therefore a fitting companion for the second of two jaunty Polish carols, Three wise men, this one with a gloriously sturdy bass line.
The final two carols profited from the splendid organ playing of guest organist Donald Hawksworth. The first was John Hearne’s own setting of the words of the hymn Brightest and Best. Wonderfully energetic outer verses for both organ and chorus enclosed more pensive central verses with splendidly imaginative and colourful harmonic writing. The second was Percy Fletcher’s New Year Carol. It sets to music the words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Ring out, wild bells”. Here the excellent singing of the Stonehaven Chorus reached its apex, the full throated vocal sounds chiming in with the organ and a real carillon of bells: a magnificent conclusion to a fine musical celebration.
THE STONEHAVEN CHORUS
'KIRK, CHAPEL, CATHEDRAL'
St. JAMES’S CHURCH, STONEHAVEN
Sunday, 20th May, 2007
Alan Cooper
The Stonehaven Chorus sounded jubilant indeed as they rejoiced resonantly in a selection of favorite church music in St James’s Church on Sunday. This was especially true in the central section of their three-part programme representing music from the Chapels of Wales. The opening section included music by Scottish composers, both ancient and contemporary while the final selection represented the Cathedral music of England with at its heart, Anthems by Charles Villiers Stanford. The Welsh Hymn repertoire, however, though still vigorously alive in practice in the chapels of its homeland, is rarely heard in concert performance. On Sunday, the Stonehaven Chorus, under conductor Dr John Hearne, Welsh born and bred, proved that this music is easily able to hold its own, and proudly too, alongside the other traditions of the British Isles.
The two Welsh hymns in minor keys Brithdir by P.H. Lewis and In Memoriam by Caradog Roberts were as Dr Hearne rightly described them, “real little gems”, along with Dr Hearne’s own arrangement for the chorus of Y Delyn Aur, (The Harp of Gold).
Sunday’s performance also provided many opportunities for the audience to join in singing some of the more popular hymns and the highlight, not surprisingly, was Cwm Rhondda. Possibly the best hymn tune ever composed, it easily eclipsed I to the hills will lift mine eyes from Scotland or from England, For all the Saints by Ralf Vaughan Williams, and they are undoubted classics too.
The concert began with a sixteenth century motet by the Scottish composer David Peebles Quam multi, Domini in a rousing performance by the Chorus. This work displayed the fine balance between the different sections of the choir, which they maintained throughout their performance. Praise by John Thomson, the first Reid Professor of Music at Edinburgh University, and sometimes-called “the Scottish Schumann” combined the traditional Scottish Psalm sound with a slightly more exotic melodic and harmonic slant. A lovely carol, Mater Salutaris by Aberdeen born composer Martin Dalby a pupil of Sunday’s organist, Donald Hawksworth at the Grammar School, and John Hearne’s A Duan of Barra with its inspiration in Gaelic psalm-singing evidenced the high quality of contemporary Scottish church music.
The fine music of Stanford represented the English Cathedral tradition. However, Gustav Holst’s amazing Eternal Father, who didst all create that included not just real chimes but bell-like sounds from the sopranos and Hubert Parry’s Coronation Anthem I was glad when they said unto me stole the limelight in this section.
But where was Ireland in all this? Well at the conclusion of the Scottish section was a splendid Motet by Shaun Dillon, Peace. Although born and brought up in Scotland, Shaun Dillon is proud of his Irish ancestry and therefore he can stand proud as the sole representative of Ireland at Sunday’s concert.
THE STONEHAVEN CHORUS
SPRING CONCERT
St. JAMES'S CHURCH, STONEHAVEN
SUNDAY 21ST May 2006
Alan Cooper
The undoubted highlight of last Sunday’s concert by the Stonehaven Chorus in St. James’s Episcopal Church was a work they first performed in collaboration with the Gothenburg Sinfonietta at their concert in the Music Hall, Aberdeen in December 1995.This was Förklädd Gud or A God Disguised by the Swedish composer Lars-Erik Larsson. Sunday’s performance brought the Stonehaven Chorus together with Aberdeen Sinfonietta in a work that was ideally suited to the forces that conductor John Hearne had at his disposal, a superb chorus and orchestra. Since the earlier performance with the Gothenberg musicians, John Hearne has prepared and published a new English translation of the original Swedish text and it was this version that was sung on Sunday. Soprano and baritone soloists Gillian and Gordon Jack were joined by Grampian TV personality Chris Harvey who gave the spoken narration that is central to the work. Based on a poem by Hjalmar Gullberg, it concerns a Grecian legend telling of the God Apollo who was sent down to earth to live among mortals disguised as a humble shepherd. The message of the text is that one should be kind to the most humble stranger, for he could be a God in disguise.
The work begins and ends with an interlude for orchestra alone, with sensational playing by Aberdeen Sinfonietta. Chris Harvey’s beautifully clear narration bound together the whole import of the text while the two soloists Gillian and Gordon Jack carried the emotional impact of the music to its summit in their duet. The Stonehaven Chorus were at their very best in this music which they have made their own. The sense of optimism that is at the very heart of this music radiated from their singing.
Although this last work was the highlight of the concert, the other two works were not far behind. The Chorus was equally hearty in a joyful performance of Haydn’s St. Nicholas Mass. In this work contralto Joyce Wintour and tenor Andrew Locke Nicholson who gave a particularly fine performance joined the line up of soloists. The ensemble pieces were superbly well balanced.
The third piece in the concert was an arrangement of four Icelandic Folk Songs Summernights in the Fjords by John Hearne. His luminous orchestral writing was especially impressive. I was reminded of Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne. The first two songs were happy childhood songs cheerfully sung by the Chorus. The second two were in a darker hue but Gordon Jack’s smooth singing subtly backed by the chorus and beautiful orchestral writing made the music glow with colour.