Fine and varied evening of music by the Voices
THE Charnwood Voices Autumn Concert at St Andrews Church in Kegworth was entitled ‘Light Fantastic!’, each item being related to light, shadows, rainbows and so on.
This well conceived and executed idea gave a good-sized audience a fine and very varied evening of music. The first half of the programme featured 13 separate items, unusually performed without breaks for applause and ranging from two Thomas Tallis works from the 16th Century to Polish choral composer Pawel Lukaszewski’s 2007 setting of the Nunc dimittis, with 1930s favourites Over the Rainbow and Blue Moon in there also.
The very varied styles of music and the need to stand and sing, often unaccompanied, without a break for 45 minutes provided a serious test for the choir, but they passed it with flying colours, adapting well to the individual items and showing a wide dynamic range and excellent diction in the church’s good acoustic.
Conductor Nicholas ScottBurt’s own arrangement of the Canticle of the Sun and Moon was impressive, with a formidable organ accompaniment from Lee Dunleavy. The first half ended (as it had begun) with the evening hymn, Before the Ending of the Day, in this second case the romantic version which is the best-known work of Henry Balfour Gardiner, a largely overlooked British composer.
The second half of the programme was devoted to a single work, Morten Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, a five movement setting of words from the Requiem. The American composer’s version is far from gloomy overall, and Dr Scott-Burt’s expert conducting gave us a well rounded performance with excellent balance between the choir and further fine organ playing.
The quiet and peaceful end brought the evening to a very satisfying close. Charnwood Voices is a fine choir; next up is their Christmas concert in Loughborough on December 21.
By Jim Miller