AN
AFTERNOON WITH THE BBC SINGERS
Victoria
Concert Hall
Sunday (15 March 2015 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 March 2015 with the title "Afternoon delights".
After three evenings of performing
Beethoven's Choral Symphony with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Chorus,
the BBC Singers gave an a cappella recital of its own, conducted by its
Principal Guest Conductor Paul Brough. The only professional non-operatic choir
in the United Kingdom
Like afternoon tea with scones, the
British choral tradition is a venerated institution but one which has actively
kept up with the times. The notion of polyphony in choral music was not just
limited to harmonies alone but now involving new compositional techniques and
vocal devices. Gabriel Jackson's The
Voice of the Bard opened the concert, with a long fanfare on the word “Hear”,
of the first sentence “Hear the voice of the Bard,” from William Blake's Songs Of Experience.
The expanse of the hall was soon filled
with a plethora of voices that reflected the sheer dynamic range of the piece,
which continued into Judith Weir's Vertue,
written in three sections. The clarity of pronunciation and enunciation was
such that it was easy to follow the words, even through dense polyphonic
textures.
Many of the works would not be familiar
to non-choristers, however John Tavener's Song
for Athene might be the exception. The drone provided by the basses was
redolent of Greek Orthodox Church music over which an ethereal Alleluia wafted above the throng. This
was written in memory of a young Greek friend who had died in a road accident,
and was most famously sung at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.
Folksongs occupy a large part of choral
music, and these were well represented here. Cedric Davie's settings of The Three Ravens and We Be Three Poor Marriners were sung by
the twelve men, while the women made their mark on Granville Bantock's
arrangements of Ye Banks An' Braes
and Highland Laddie. Both sets were
characterised by rich harmonisations that added a further dimension to mere
words.
This listener's ears were piqued by the
wonderful symmetry offered in the pairing of Judith Bingham's The Drowned Lovers and Charles
Stanford's The Blue Bird, which were
sung without a break. The word “blue” became a common reference in both songs,
water in the former aligned with sky of the latter. The alto solo in the
Bingham exuded an operatic intensity, contrasted with the soaring soprano solo
in the Stanford.
Ever more piquant was Edward Cowie's Lyre Bird Motet, which used extramusical
vocalisations to quite startling effect. A low drone evoked the Australian
outback, over which women's voices simulated the song of the fabled lyre bird,
with onomatopoeic sounds, whistles, shouts and wordless issues adding to a rich
mosaic of sound.
James MacMillan's The Gallant Weaver, with words by Robert Burns, was a perfect
modern setting for a love song. Its rustic charm was all embracing, with
women's voices ornamenting the chant of a young girl in love with the village
weaver.
Concluding the concert was a great
classic, Benjamin Britten's Hymn To Saint
Cecilia, premiered by the BBC Singers in 1942. The patron saint of
musicians is hailed in its three sections, a common refrain separating some of
the finest and most responsive ensemble and solo singing to be heard here. The
encore offered by the choir was no less interesting, Richard Rodney Bennett's
calming Good Night. A truly classy
way to take one's leave.
Post-concert photos
 |
| BBC Singers tenor Philip Salmon (left), had sung with the Singapore Symphony Chorus in Handel's Messiah during the 1990s, with SSC tenor Alan Smith. |
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| Looking smart in vermilion: SSC soprano Patricia Teng with BBC Singers soprano Alison Smart |
 |
| Meet the maestros: BBC Singers Principal Guest Conductor Paul Brough with Bernard Lanskey, Director of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. |
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