Continuing a long choral history

Fifty years ago, Canberra was a town of just 15,000. But even that mini community could form a choir, and this choir continues today as the Canberra Choral Society. Even more amazing is that this amateur choir is now sophisticated enough to perform a range of choral works of high calibre and to justify a Sunday live broadcast to ABCFM. So it was this weekend: Easter weekend. I’ve written here about the wonderful Messiah I heard before Christmas from the CCS. This performance was a much less known and more varied program, with limited musical accompaniment, about 100 singers, and with up to 8-part harmony: two each of sopranos, alto, tenors and basses. Interestingly, with voices interspersed, rather than in blocks.

The performance lasted about 1 hour, and was formed of 4 brackets, each of two, three of four tunes, of radically different eras and styles. Bracket 1 was Britten and Bizet. Bracket 2 was Monteverdi and others of that era, along with a modern piece, Araluen, by Matthew Orlovich. This bracket was performed without organ accompaniment. Bracket 3 was disarmingly two songs in the American gospel tradition, also with virtually no accompaniment. Bracket 4 was Mascagni and Vaughan Williams. The recurrent theme was Easter, with two Te Deums (Britten to start the program and Vaughan Williams to end it).

It was not something I feel competent to comment much on. I noticed a good swing feel in the third bracket, which surprised me, but these are modern people so have inherited a feel for swing. I felt even 100 voices or thereabouts only just filled Llewellyn Hall, but it’s a big space. I liked the new electric organ that sounded big and true. I loved Karen Fitz-Gibbon’s solo soprano voice, which soared with incredible clarity and beauty, even if it got lost just once or twice. She’s an honours student at ANUSM, and looks like she has a future. And the music, although largely unknown to me, was a fascinating mix of eras and styles, and worthily presented by a surprisingly capable choir. Just another unexpected wonder of this little town, and not the only choir of note.

The Canberra Choral Society performed at Llewellyn Hall with Peter Pocock and Tobias Cole conducting and with Karen Fitz-Gibbon (soprano) and Peter Young (organ).

350th birthday? Not jazz!

Thanks to Purcell for his fine, dignified music. Thanks to the Canberra Choral Society for a wonderful performance last night for Purcell’s 350th Birthday at the Llewellyn Hall. And thanks to ArtSound for the tix I won during the afternoon radiothon. We’d been thinking of attending, but in the end it was the prize that got us there and I’m so glad we went.

I love choral music, but this was not Beethoven or Orff or even Bach. It was a night of a little baroque orchestra with a wonderful, moderately sized choral group. The music is superbly dignified. I continually imagined myself in castles and palaces, or perhaps Westminster Abbey for the famed Funeral Music for Queen Mary. I noticed the music often moving in little phrases that were progressively mirrored by different voices or instruments, often rising in pitch, sometimes seemingly indefinitely. They were simple phrases, but of melodic purity. The brass rings true to the era, and the strings get a minor and much simpler role. The words are in English. I could pick some, banal to our ears: “Sound the trumpet”, “Strike the viol”; but also the heart-rending “Remember me” from Aeneas to her lost love, Dido.

These were Purcell masterpieces, apparently, starting with the Birthday ode for Queen Mary, through Te Deum, King Arthur, some songs, and Dido and Aeneas, to finish with the Funeral march for Queen Mary. There were six soloists. I particularly noted Tobias Cole (countertenor) for his strength and purpose of vision, and Karen Fitz-Gibbon (sporano) for her similar purpose, but also for that soaring, crisp voice. It was not all perfect, but this is an non-profit group presumably with amateur chorists, if not instrumentalists and soloists. I noticed some uncomfortable spots: soloists rushing or occasional uncomfortable harmonies in the orchestra or choral balance (common problem: too few men in choirs). And I didn’t like that baroque organ hiding the so-important brass. (The poor brass have a hard time in fine music: they are forever waiting to play in classical, and when they get their opportunity in baroque, they are hidden). But I was stunned by the beauty and clarity of purpose and we were taken back to another era that truly felt different. Just listen to the dolorous dignity of the drum processional for the Funeral March, and the pained majesty of following brass march to feel this splendour. Wonderful!

The Canberra Choral Society presented Purcell” a 350th birthday tribute at the Llewellyn Hall. Peter Pocock coducted; soloists were Sonia Anfiloff, Karen Fitz-Gibbon, Tobias Cole, David Yardley, David Mackay and Benjamin Connor. There was an orchestra of 25 and a choir of 71.