Waverley Singers

"Waverley Singers live up to high standards at Christmas Concert"

The following review by Bob Warren was contributed to The Herald newspaper and was published on 24 December 2009.

With its mixture of modern and traditional Christmas Music, the Waverley Singers Christmas Concert, this year at St Andrew's Parish Church, Farnham, reminds us, if we need it, that the festive season is upon us. As has become traditional for the Waverley Singers, part of the ticket price is donated to a charity, and for this concert the recipients were the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA). Martyn Lewis CBE, the distinguished broadcaster, introduced the evening and during the course of the concert read a number of well-known pieces of Christmas prose and poetry.

The first item from the choir was “Oh do not move” by John Tavener, which was followed almost seamlessly by “God is with us” by the same composer. These very modern pieces form a challenging start, with their discordant harmonies. In the second of these the audience heard the young baritone Marcus Farnsworth, who already has an international career and who had flown in from Paris that morning to appear with the Waverley Singers.

Martyn Lewis then read “Christmas” by John Betjeman and this was followed by David Willcocks’ traditional setting of “The Sussex Carol” in which the first verse was sung very prettily by sopranos and altos and the second verse quite gloriously by tenors and basses.

It has become a feature of Waverley Singers Christmas Concerts that the audience gets the chance to sing, and this year was no exception, with “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” being next on the programme. The choir followed with two far more reflective pieces: “O Magnum Mysterium” by the twenty-first century American composer Morten Lauridsen, with its lovely harmonies and occasional intentional clashes between voices, and the beautiful “A Spotless Rose” by Herbert Howells. In the Lauridsen in particular, the subtle changes of speed and dynamics were handled particularly well by both choir and its Conductor, Richard Pearce, who is a relatively recent appointment and under whose clearly very able leadership the choir is flourishing and is obviously enjoying itself.

Two beautifully sung solos from Marcus were next: “Bethlehem Down” and “The First Mercy”, both written by Peter Warlock nearly 100 years ago. Then followed an extract from Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” read by Martyn Lewis, who said that he felt particularly qualified to adapt the reading because his father had been at school with Dylan Thomas.

The John Joubert setting of “Torches” was next, and then a less well-known piece, “Vox Dicenta Clames” by EW Naylor. Of all the items in the concert, the choir was least comfortable with the Naylor, and there was a slight tendency for the sopranos to snatch at entries, possibly because of uncertainty of notes, and for the basses to seem unhappy when their line was exposed, but the slight uncertainty here and there was on the whole overcome. The first half of the concert finished with choir and audience singing the Willcocks arrangement of “Unto Us Is Born A Son”.

The second half of the concert began with Dr Mary Baker MBE, President of EFNA, with a brief explanation of the Work of EFNA and its importance. Then came the lively “Riu, Riu, Chiu” by Mateo Flecha el Viejo sung by Marcus and choir, and then the highly rhythmic setting by John Gardner of “Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day”, which the choir handled with great aplomb.

Following a reading of John Julius Norwich’s “Twelve Days of Christmas” by Martyn Lewis, we were given John Rutter’s arrangement of “Here We Come A Wassailing” sung joyfully by the choir and Marcus and then the audience were invited to sing the Advent Carol “Of the father’s heart begotten” set by David Willcocks.

The Willcocks arrangement of the French Carol “Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agréable”, again with a verse sung by Marcus Farnsworth, was taken very slowly. John Darker, Chairman of Waverley Singers, read “The Journey of the Magi” by TS Eliot and this preceded the Atkins arrangement of Peter Cornelius’ “The Three Kings”, again with Marcus most sensitively singing the solo baritone part.

“The Lamb” by John Tavener has become a Christmas favourite with its clever inversions of parts and its musical palindromes, and the choir did not disappoint. After a reading by Dr Mary Baker of “That Midnight Hour” the choir sang another Tavener piece, “Hymn to the Mother of God”. This is in great contrast to “The Lamb”, and although the idea is simple, with two sections of the choir singing the same notes but a couple of bars apart, the results can seem difficult to penetrate.

The last choir item (but see below) in the concert was Francis Poulenc’s “Hodie Christus Natus Est”, and this was handled with appropriate gusto. The choir, however, particularly the ladies, needs to watch such words as “Hallelujah” and “Gloria” to make sure that they do not end in “yuh”.

Ian Farrington, who had played the organ where required throughout the concert, then offered his own very lively jazz organ version of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, for which Richard Pearce invited the audience to see if they could spot the (heavily disguised) tune. This formed a prelude to Martyn Lewis concluding the concert with an exhortation to give generously to a retiring collection for ESNA and inviting the audience to stand and sing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”.

It seems a tradition that no Waverley Singers Christmas Concert is complete without “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as an encore, and having had a most enjoyable evening the audience were left to look forward to a happy and peaceful Christmas.