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Ceremony of Carols<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Choir of St James\u2019 Church, King Street, Sydney<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n 23 November 2013<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Benjamin Britten was born on St Cecilia\u2019s Day (22 November) 1913 and the Choir of St James\u2019 Church celebrated his centenary with a concert focusing on his music.\u00a0 It provided a splendid conclusion to a year of fine performances under the choir\u2019s admirable conductor Warren Trevelyan-Jones.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The programme opened with the delightful Hymn to St Cecilia<\/i> \u2013 Britten\u2019s own tribute to the patron saint of music.\u00a0 This was largely written on board ship in 1942 when Britten was returning from three years in the USA. \u00a0It is unaccompanied so the voices are very exposed and the challenges of pitch and intonation were more apparent in this work than in the other pieces in the programme which had instrumental accompaniments.\u00a0 Trevelyan-Jones sought a lightness and transparency in the opening section but it may have benefited from more gentle accenting and sustained phrasing.\u00a0 Here, and throughout the concert, there were excellent solo contributions from members of the choir and Liza Lilli\u2019s pure, bell-like soprano tones were ideal for this music.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Contrast was provided by the guest harpist Alice Giles playing the fugue and hymn from Britten\u2019s Suite for Harp<\/i>.\u00a0 These are virtuoso pieces which present an intriguing mixture of ancient music filtered through twentieth century ears.\u00a0 The last movement was a stirring performance of a set of variations on the Welsh hymn St Denio \u2013 Britten\u2019s gesture to the dedicatee and original performer, the Welsh harpist Osian Ellis.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The first half of the concert concluded with an enjoyable performance of another of Britten\u2019s wartime choral works, Rejoice in the Lamb<\/i> in which the choir\u2019s unanimity and crisp rhythms were especially impressive.\u00a0 The organ accompaniment was provided by Alistair Nelson who chose particularly evocative organ registrations.\u00a0 Once again the solos from the choir were impressive and the sustained legato singing from the tenor Owen Elsley was especially pleasing.\u00a0 The restrained ecstasy which Trevelyan-Jones obtained in the closing sections was also very effective.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The second half of the concert had a Christmas flavour.\u00a0 It started with the Ceremony of Carols<\/i>, which was also written by Britten on his sea voyage back to England in 1942.\u00a0 Although intended for a choir of boy trebles, this performance by a small group of three voices per part retained the delicate chamber music quality which the work needs.\u00a0 The harp accompaniment was again sensitively played by Alice Giles whose interlude movement impressively displayed the large dynamic range of which the harp is capable. \u00a0Again, the solos from the choir displayed the depth of talent of the individual members of the choir.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The English Christmas theme continued with Vaughan Williams\u2019 Fantasia on Christmas Carols<\/i> which was performed with an organ accompaniment again played by Alistair Nelson.\u00a0\u00a0 The baritone solos which link the various sections of the work and provide a musical continuity were impressively sung by Rob Hansen who delivered them in exactly the right English cathedral style.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Trevelyan-Jones replaced the advertised selection of miscellaneous carols with a much more musically satisfying bracket of twentieth century works.\u00a0 It started with Britten\u2019s Hymn to the Virgin<\/i>, written when he was only 17. \u00a0This was a fine performance, with the semi-chorus effectively placed backstage.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Trevelyan-Jones referred to the death of the English composer John Tavener just a fortnight previously and made a late decision to incorporate two of his works into the programme as a tribute.\u00a0 It was an inspired decision for the choir to sing Tavener\u2019s Hymn to the Mother of God<\/i> at the extreme east end of the church, gathered around the altar.\u00a0 Here, the singers stood under a gold mosaic apse which visually evoked the Byzantine setting which Tavener, a convert to the Orthodox Church, would have pictured for performing this work.\u00a0 But even more impressive was the change of acoustic which this produced, with a longer reverberation time approximating, as much as is possible in St James, the lush acoustics of traditional Byzantine churches.\u00a0 It was very effective.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The concert closed with a florid arrangement of Adeste Fideles<\/i> for solo harp, Tavener\u2019s The Lamb <\/i>and Rutter\u2019s Dormi Jesu<\/i>.\u00a0 These brought to a conclusion a fine commemoration of Britten\u2019s centenary with musically rewarding performances.\u00a0 It also reinforced the standing of the choir of St James as perhaps the finest in Sydney for this repertoire.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, it should be noted that the printed programme contained a long and scholarly set of programme notes by the chorister Isabella Woods.\u00a0 These provided an excellent commentary on the works performed and much food for thought afterwards.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Larry Turner for SoundsLikeSydney\u00a9<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Larry Turner has been singing in choirs for many years \u2013 both in Sydney and London.\u00a0 He is an avid attendee of operas and concerts, with an emphasis on vocal music.\u00a0 He particularly enjoys music from both the great a capella period and the baroque \u2013 especially the lesser-known works of Bach and Handel.\u00a0 He has written programme notes for Sydney Philharmonia, the Intervarsity Choral Festival and the Sydneian Bach Choir and is currently part of a team researching the history of Sydney Philharmonia for its forthcoming centenary.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ceremony of Carols Choir of St James\u2019 Church, King Street, Sydney 23 November 2013\u00a0 Benjamin Britten was born on St Cecilia\u2019s Day…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-14741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"\n