Concert review December 2008
Our Concert on 6th December was reviewed in the Bucks Herald and the review is reproduced here:
A wonderful tonic on a cold night
A celebration of Advent through the music of 17th century England took place at St Mary’s Church on Saturday December 6, at the first concert of the season from Aylesbury Choral Society.
The leading composer of this period was Henry Purcell, and he was represented by three pieces. The first, which made a dramatic opening, was an extract from the Funeral Music for Queen Mary, a solemn ceremonial piece here comprising two verses sung unaccompanied by the choir, sandwiched between a dead march for trumpets, sackbuts and drum, the latter played by conductor Peter Leech.
The concert also included the joyful Rejoice in the Lord, with its dance-like rhythms, O Sing Unto the Lord, and Salvatore Mundi, a difficult piece by John Blow, who worked alongside and succeeded Purcell at the Chapel Royal. The
choir, who sang well throughout, were really tested here, but to their credit managed to pull through.
The remaining two works related to St Cecilia’s Day. First were excerpts from Scarlatti’s Missa Santa Cecilia, which, although never performed at the time in England, probably resembled the lost repertoire of the Catholic court of James II.
The main work was a setting of Dryden’s St Cecilia Ode, which we heard recently in a version by Aylesbury composer David Aylett. This time the composer was Giovanni Battista Draghi, an Italian who came to England in the
1660s.
This rarely heard, but gloriously flamboyant work was a fantastic showcase for the choir, the four excellent soloists Nicki Kennedy, Catherine Griffiths, Joseph Cornwell and Adrian Peacock and the Frideswide Ensemble, playing on
period instruments. Once again the natural trumpets had the chance to shine, as did the alto and bass soloists in particular, while the choir - a small group to start with - were further subdivided for the intricate fugue-like choral
passages.
This splendid concert of mostly unfamiliar music was much enjoyed by the audience and was a wonderful tonic on a cold night.
Joss O’Kelly
December 2008
A wonderful tonic on a cold night
A celebration of Advent through the music of 17th century England took place at St Mary’s Church on Saturday December 6, at the first concert of the season from Aylesbury Choral Society.
The leading composer of this period was Henry Purcell, and he was represented by three pieces. The first, which made a dramatic opening, was an extract from the Funeral Music for Queen Mary, a solemn ceremonial piece here comprising two verses sung unaccompanied by the choir, sandwiched between a dead march for trumpets, sackbuts and drum, the latter played by conductor Peter Leech.
The concert also included the joyful Rejoice in the Lord, with its dance-like rhythms, O Sing Unto the Lord, and Salvatore Mundi, a difficult piece by John Blow, who worked alongside and succeeded Purcell at the Chapel Royal. The
choir, who sang well throughout, were really tested here, but to their credit managed to pull through.
The remaining two works related to St Cecilia’s Day. First were excerpts from Scarlatti’s Missa Santa Cecilia, which, although never performed at the time in England, probably resembled the lost repertoire of the Catholic court of James II.
The main work was a setting of Dryden’s St Cecilia Ode, which we heard recently in a version by Aylesbury composer David Aylett. This time the composer was Giovanni Battista Draghi, an Italian who came to England in the
1660s.
This rarely heard, but gloriously flamboyant work was a fantastic showcase for the choir, the four excellent soloists Nicki Kennedy, Catherine Griffiths, Joseph Cornwell and Adrian Peacock and the Frideswide Ensemble, playing on
period instruments. Once again the natural trumpets had the chance to shine, as did the alto and bass soloists in particular, while the choir - a small group to start with - were further subdivided for the intricate fugue-like choral
passages.
This splendid concert of mostly unfamiliar music was much enjoyed by the audience and was a wonderful tonic on a cold night.
Joss O’Kelly
December 2008
