Choral renaissance

In the late 18th and early 20th Centuries, Russian liturgical music was thriving, writes Garry Fraser.

Many composers, including Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, were eager to adopt the style and became experts in the construction of four or eight-part a capella choral music.

The genre became passe in the early-to-mid 20th Century, but it is enjoying a renaissance and can be brought to audiences all over the world thanks to groups like Tenebrae who are specialists in this from of music.

The gap left by The Sixteen in the Perth Festival’s listings was more than adequately filled by Nigel Short’s magnificent ensemble. All the characterisations of a well-moulded group were there to see – superb balance, crisp diction, sublime phrasing, flick-of-a-switch change in dynamics, plus Short’s deft control.

A programme of Russian liturgical music, sung in its mother tongue, could be a tough one for any audience no matter the quality of singing, so Short might have sensed this with a programme lasting little over one hour.

Still, that hour had many magic moments, not least the astounding resonant bass line, complete with bottom B flats, which sounded like a 32-foot organ pedal stop. That’s why a Russian Bass has a distinction all to his own.

The group as a total unit were superb, when split into groups equally so.

The gentlemen performed a serene Cherubic Hymn by Nikolay Golovanov and this was matched by the ladies’ Gladsome Light, a beautiful work by Pavel Chesnokov.

However, to single out one or two particular works might be unfair on the others as this was an all-round fantastic display of choral singing, ideal for the excellent acoustic of Perth’s St John’s Kirk.