'en avant la musique'- Gala Concert March 2010

Date: Thursday 18 March 2010

Since the start of the academic year, and the arrival of Will Bersey to direct the Music Department, there has been a 'velvet revolution' in which change has been implemented gradually, and hugely to the satisfaction of all involved in musicmaking at St Edmund's School.

Last evening's Gala Concert in the Quire of Canterbury Cathedral was another element in the process of 'velvet' change as the fifteenth of this series of events proved to be one of the smoothest and most pleasing of them all. There were novelties aplenty: two different settings of the Mass; a programme completely French in its content; the chance for Spencer Payne to shine iridescent on the Cathedral organ; the reincarnation of the St Edmund's Choral Society; and, the positioning of the choirs at the west end of the Quire, directly below the organ loft!

The programme was both simple in its creation, and stunning in performance. The opening orchestral piece, the second Suite from Bizet's 'L'Arlesienne', grew into a show stopper, especially in the third and fourth movements where the minuet was beautifully played as a duet between Guy Steed (harp) and Seth Scott Deuchar (flute). As for the final farandole - the best known of these Bizet stunners - the orchestra whipped the audience into a metaphorical frenzy with its pace and precision.

The came the Widor setting of the Mass - 'Messe a Deux Choeurs et Deux Orgues'. Well, we had one choir, the Chapel Choir, plus an octet of baritones, and one organ, but the sheer power of that organ, combined with the beauty of the voices, ended the first half in great style. A couple of guest singers from the UKC left at the interval, but were amazed by the quality of the School's music. They had both been involved in last Saturday's UKC concert in the Cathedral and felt that ours was in no way inferior to theirs!

After just a ten minute break we returned to the Symphony Orchestra, led by John Bungay, and this time conducted by Spencer Payne, who turned to Camille Saint-Saens, probably best known for his 'Carnival of the Animals'. His 'Havanaise' - 'Habanera' in the Spanish - is a showcase for solo violin, with the orchestral accompaniment as such. I have several CDs of Nineteenth Century violin concertos and encores, played by Chloe Hanslip and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, but they do not stand up to comparison with our Sophie Belinfante, who, was, quite simply, superb. The audience was captivated by every note from start to finish of a peerless performance.

Then came the massed choirs of Chapel Choir, Choral Society, and Cathedral Choristers - after a term's worth of fighting through snow, rain and gales to rehearse every Thursday since January. It might appear odd to have two versions of a mass on the same programme, but so different is the Vierne 'Messe Solonnelle', that it was fascinating to contrast the settings of Kyrie Eleison, Gloria, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, as created by the two Frenchmen. Spencer Payne's virtuosity earned him an ovation - and rightly - to that given to the choirs.

This was a marvellous evening, with the perfect balance of choral and orchestral music. In the past these concerts have striven for too much variety, but this focused on sheer quality, and brought the best out of the St Edmund's musical family. Those who were present are already booking their seats for June 29th, when the School's musical year will end with the traditional 'Summer Serenade' - indoors! - in the last week of term.