CONCERT REVIEW APRIL 2014
Dvorak Mass in D, Songs of Nature, 6 Strains from Moravia, 3 Slavonic dances, and Skroupe's 3 Motets
In Aylesbury Choral Society’s Spring Concert we were transported to the Prague of the 1870s for music by Dvorak, that most vernal of composers. Indeed the first half was devoted to “Songs of Nature” which the choir performed with lightness and grace. More musically significant were the Slavonic Dances Op 48, the best of which reminded one of the scherzi of the 6th and 7th symphonies and the G major/G minor alternations of Dance No 8 were reminiscent of Schubert. These were sensitively and vibrantly played by Gus Orchard and Colin Spinks.
Colin had all the accompanying of the choir to do on the piano in the first half and then in the second half, on the organ, which, although a less pleasant instrument than the new concert Kawai piano, had more weight which gave the sopranos more confidence to soar than they had in the first half.
The Mass in D is seldom performed and with its rather 4-square fugues, it is easy to see why; Dvorak himself rated it highly, albeit as a “little offering”. The choir made good work of it and the tenors particularly gave a thrilling sound in their climaxes.
Three motets by Jan Skroupe (1811-1892) (no, I hadn’t heard of him either), which conductor Peter Leech had heard in Prague’s St Vitus’s Cathedral were beautiful pieces and effectively interspersed between movements of the Mass.
D Berdinner
Dvorak Mass in D, Songs of Nature, 6 Strains from Moravia, 3 Slavonic dances, and Skroupe's 3 Motets
In Aylesbury Choral Society’s Spring Concert we were transported to the Prague of the 1870s for music by Dvorak, that most vernal of composers. Indeed the first half was devoted to “Songs of Nature” which the choir performed with lightness and grace. More musically significant were the Slavonic Dances Op 48, the best of which reminded one of the scherzi of the 6th and 7th symphonies and the G major/G minor alternations of Dance No 8 were reminiscent of Schubert. These were sensitively and vibrantly played by Gus Orchard and Colin Spinks.
Colin had all the accompanying of the choir to do on the piano in the first half and then in the second half, on the organ, which, although a less pleasant instrument than the new concert Kawai piano, had more weight which gave the sopranos more confidence to soar than they had in the first half.
The Mass in D is seldom performed and with its rather 4-square fugues, it is easy to see why; Dvorak himself rated it highly, albeit as a “little offering”. The choir made good work of it and the tenors particularly gave a thrilling sound in their climaxes.
Three motets by Jan Skroupe (1811-1892) (no, I hadn’t heard of him either), which conductor Peter Leech had heard in Prague’s St Vitus’s Cathedral were beautiful pieces and effectively interspersed between movements of the Mass.
D Berdinner
