Review of Concert on 10th December 2010 at St
Mary's Church, Westerham
On December 10th Capriol, directed by Graham Dinnage and accompanied by Stephen Haylett, presented their Christmas concert in Westerham Parish Church, whose gently resonant acoustic lends itself well to choral performances.
The concert opened with a rousing performance of Resonent in Laudibus by Jacobus Handl. From their first entry, Capriol demonstrated an impressive immediacy and solidity of tone, commanding the audience's attention. This was evidently not to be an evening when we would be permitted to doze in the pews!
One of the difficulties in putting together a programme made up of many short single items - a situation presented to concert planners most often at Christmas - is how to give the evening a sense of cohesion. One solution is to group items together around common themes but, for the first half of their concert, Capriol alighted upon the device of performing the sections of a mass interspersed with carols. The mass in question was the Missa ad Praesepe (Mass at the Crib) by George Malcolm. Written for Westminster Cathedral Choir in 1959 when the composer was in his forties, in style I felt it nevertheless looked back over its shoulder to the earlier part of the century and beyond rather than acknowledging the then musical present. It nevertheless provided some enjoyable music throughout the first half.
Other, better known, English composers were well represented too. The programme included the not often performed Puer Nobis and, later in the concert, the Five Carols, both by Richard Rodney Bennett, masterpieces of their genre by a composer whose writing and performance styles successfully cross the boundaries between the classical choral and jazz repertoires, each influenced by the other. However, and possibly for that reason, his genius seems never to have been as widely recognised as his peers'. Of the Five Carols, Number 2 'Out of Your Sleep' and Number 5 'Susanni' are perhaps the best known, but it was good to hear the whole set performed together as intended, and by a choir that was able to embrace convincingly their exciting rhythmic angularities.
We next stepped back in time with some Michael Praetorius, before listening to the Sanctus and Benedictus from the Mass. The setting of O Magnum Mysterium that followed by the contemporary American Morten Lauridsen has become a staple of the Christmas choral repertoire. Lauridsen's style is all about inversions and semitone dissonances that enable competent choirs to create a sweeping sense of depth and space to convey the Greatness of the Mystery. The tempo taken in Capriol's performance was somewhat faster than some, but it avoided the temptation to wallow in the rich harmonies and perhaps gave a better impression of the overall shape of each verse. The piece also provided an opportunity for the Choir to show off its enviable vocal blend and balance. In the charming setting of Lully, lulla by another 20th century English composer, Kenneth Leighton, the choir and soprano soloist Helen Bruce captured the lullaby mood perfectly.
Fittingly, after the Agnus Dei from the Mass, the choir performed The Lamb by another contemporary, but English, composer John Tavener. While rhythmically straightforward, the piece always presents choirs with challenges in staying in tune. The main themes weave around each other rather like threads in an embroidered cloth and always return to a unison note. The impression of ease conveyed by Capriol concealed skillful vocal control and harmonic awareness. The first half of the concert ended with the Gloria from the Mass.
Capriol has a history of specialisation in the works of Peter Warlock and, after opening the second half with some Mendelssohn, their Christmas programme included Warlock's carols The First Mercy and Balulalow. Warlock's music often is pervaded by sense of sadness, but these carols are some of the most affecting in the repertoire and provided an opportunity for another of Capriol's silken-voiced soloists, Laura Fowler, to emerge from the vocal blend and deliver a charming rendition. After some audience carols and the Richard Rodney Bennett mentioned above, the concert closed with It Came Upon a Midnight Clear by Richard Willis and In Dulci Jubilo - not the familiar setting by de Pearsall, but a suitably rich and resonant setting by Hieronymus Praetorius.
Nick Landauer
December 2010
On December 10th Capriol, directed by Graham Dinnage and accompanied by Stephen Haylett, presented their Christmas concert in Westerham Parish Church, whose gently resonant acoustic lends itself well to choral performances.
The concert opened with a rousing performance of Resonent in Laudibus by Jacobus Handl. From their first entry, Capriol demonstrated an impressive immediacy and solidity of tone, commanding the audience's attention. This was evidently not to be an evening when we would be permitted to doze in the pews!
One of the difficulties in putting together a programme made up of many short single items - a situation presented to concert planners most often at Christmas - is how to give the evening a sense of cohesion. One solution is to group items together around common themes but, for the first half of their concert, Capriol alighted upon the device of performing the sections of a mass interspersed with carols. The mass in question was the Missa ad Praesepe (Mass at the Crib) by George Malcolm. Written for Westminster Cathedral Choir in 1959 when the composer was in his forties, in style I felt it nevertheless looked back over its shoulder to the earlier part of the century and beyond rather than acknowledging the then musical present. It nevertheless provided some enjoyable music throughout the first half.
Other, better known, English composers were well represented too. The programme included the not often performed Puer Nobis and, later in the concert, the Five Carols, both by Richard Rodney Bennett, masterpieces of their genre by a composer whose writing and performance styles successfully cross the boundaries between the classical choral and jazz repertoires, each influenced by the other. However, and possibly for that reason, his genius seems never to have been as widely recognised as his peers'. Of the Five Carols, Number 2 'Out of Your Sleep' and Number 5 'Susanni' are perhaps the best known, but it was good to hear the whole set performed together as intended, and by a choir that was able to embrace convincingly their exciting rhythmic angularities.
We next stepped back in time with some Michael Praetorius, before listening to the Sanctus and Benedictus from the Mass. The setting of O Magnum Mysterium that followed by the contemporary American Morten Lauridsen has become a staple of the Christmas choral repertoire. Lauridsen's style is all about inversions and semitone dissonances that enable competent choirs to create a sweeping sense of depth and space to convey the Greatness of the Mystery. The tempo taken in Capriol's performance was somewhat faster than some, but it avoided the temptation to wallow in the rich harmonies and perhaps gave a better impression of the overall shape of each verse. The piece also provided an opportunity for the Choir to show off its enviable vocal blend and balance. In the charming setting of Lully, lulla by another 20th century English composer, Kenneth Leighton, the choir and soprano soloist Helen Bruce captured the lullaby mood perfectly.
Fittingly, after the Agnus Dei from the Mass, the choir performed The Lamb by another contemporary, but English, composer John Tavener. While rhythmically straightforward, the piece always presents choirs with challenges in staying in tune. The main themes weave around each other rather like threads in an embroidered cloth and always return to a unison note. The impression of ease conveyed by Capriol concealed skillful vocal control and harmonic awareness. The first half of the concert ended with the Gloria from the Mass.
Capriol has a history of specialisation in the works of Peter Warlock and, after opening the second half with some Mendelssohn, their Christmas programme included Warlock's carols The First Mercy and Balulalow. Warlock's music often is pervaded by sense of sadness, but these carols are some of the most affecting in the repertoire and provided an opportunity for another of Capriol's silken-voiced soloists, Laura Fowler, to emerge from the vocal blend and deliver a charming rendition. After some audience carols and the Richard Rodney Bennett mentioned above, the concert closed with It Came Upon a Midnight Clear by Richard Willis and In Dulci Jubilo - not the familiar setting by de Pearsall, but a suitably rich and resonant setting by Hieronymus Praetorius.
Nick Landauer
December 2010