Saint Nicolas
Tenor: Peter Davoren
Organ: Philip Scriven
Piano: Jakob Rothoff & David Harvey
With The Choir of St. Thomas-on-The Bourne (conductor: Jordan Theis)
Britten: A Hymn to the Virgin
Franz Biebl: Ave Maria
Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
Britten: Corpus Christi Carol
Jonathan Dove: Seek Him that Maketh the Seven Stars
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Britten: Saint Nicolas
At this concert we were delighted to be performing with The Choir of St. Thomas-on-The Bourne and their conductor Jordan Theis. We had already enjoyed working with Jordan when he had stood in at some of our recent rehearsals when Richard was on concert duty, but this was the first time that we had sung with the excellent St Thomas Choir.
Appropriately enough, given the date of the concert (Saint Nicholas's Day), the main work was Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas, a joyful Cantata for choir, tenor soloist, two pianos, organ, strings, a whole host of drums, cymbal, triangle, tambourine - and even a whip. To crown it all, the piece also includes audience participation, with two well-known hymns worked in to the piece!
It tells in wonderfully imaginative and dramatic form the story of the legendary life of the fourth century Saint Nicolas, Bishop of Myra (also known as Santa Claus!) from his birth and early life, through his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to his appointment as Bishop, imprisonment as a martyr, his 'piety and marvellous works' (did we mention the Pickled Boys?!) and his death.
Saint Nicolas is a testament to the great skill with which Britten combines music and theatre, but also to the palpable sense of humanity inherent in his writing. He wrote it as a piece that could be performed by one or more school choirs, with only a small number of professional musicians needed. The tenor solo part, however (written for Peter Pears) is a challenging one, and we were delighted to welcome back BBC Singer Peter Davoren, who had sung with us in this church in our Puccini programme back in October 2023.
We were also very pleased that our friends Philip Scriven and Jakob Rothoff were with us, along with David Harvey, who had stood in at very short notice for one of our rehearsals when Jakob was indisposed, plus the Chameleon Arts Ensemble, whose members had the joy of playing all those wacky percussion instruments!
The concert also featured three other works by Britten, one of which - the Corpus Christi Carol - the St Thomas-on-The Bourne Choir performed on their own, as well as pieces by Franz Biebl and Jonathan Dove.
The following review by Gordon Tyerman appearedin the Farnham Herald online on 13 December, and in the print edition on 18 December.
Reviews
"Choirs combine for wonderful evening of Christmas music"
St Thomas-on-The Bourne Church, Farnham was the meeting place for 2 choirs in a feast of music, mainly by Benjamin Britten with pieces also by Franz Biebl and Jonathan Dove.
The choir of St Thomas-on-The Bourne, conducted by Jordan Theis, joined forces with the Waverley Singers under Richard Pearce with Philip Scriven on the organ to perform to a packed church in a wonderful concert for a dark, dingy, winter’s night on December 6.
The evening started with the St Thomas choir at the west end of the church and the Waverleys at the east in Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin, with the choirs singing to each other across the audience.
The piece was written in 1930 when Britten was just 16 and at the start of his musical journey at Gresham’s School.
Next was an Ave Maria by Franz Biebl, a German composer whose life spanned the 20th century. This piece gained popularity in the 1960s and is scored for choir and trio with the choristers (including some very young voices) giving a very good account of themselves in this a cappella piece.
The choirs then performed one of Britten’s better-known cantatas, Rejoice in the Lamb. The words, set for choir and 4 soloists, are taken from a poem by Christopher Smart and depict praise and worship of God by different aspects of nature.
We first hear of a Cat called Jeoffrey, whose virtues are sung by of the St Thomas trebles, followed by a Mouse – venerated by an alto - and then a tenor depicts the beauty of flowers in song.
There is some fast text to be sung in the first section when Nimrod, ‘the mighty hunter’, is asked to ‘bind a leopard to the altar’; this was well managed by the choirs. The piece closes with a ‘Hallelujah’ reprise from the opening.
More Britten followed with the Corpus Christi Carol, taken from a larger series of themes, A Boy is Born: another composition from his early years. The words, from a 15th century anonymous source, were sung beautifully by the young choristers from St Thomas.
Seek Him that Maketh Seven Stars by the contemporary composer, Jonathan Dove, closed the first half. More associated with opera than Christmas music, Dove was employed by Glyndebourne Opera in the 1980’s.
This carol uses words from scripture (Amos 5:8) and invites the audience to “Seek him” with the music pulsing and moving towards the resolution. Some thoughtful singing made for a splendid ending to part one of the concert.
The final work, Britten’s Saint Nicolas, is a grand piece for choir and soloists, with the tenor Peter Davoren sounding marvellous in what is a tricky narrative to sing.
Written for Lancing College, the cantata text was provided by Eric Crozier and looks at the life and character of St Nicolas. Ably supported by the Chameleon Arts Ensemble, the combined choirs rose to the occasion in a thrilling end to the evening, and were rewarded with a standing ovation.
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