Crouch End Festival Chorus
Italian Church, Clerkenwell

A Cappella Concert - CEFC Unplugged

BY David Winskill (N8 Magazine)

The last time I visited this wonderful baroque (with a leaning to Kitsch) church was about fifteen years ago. My pal John Noone was to marry the lovely Chinzia in a full Catholic nuptial mass. As John knelt to take Communion some sharp sighted friends rubbed their eyes as, on the upturned sole of his left shoe, they saw the letters HE and on the right LP. A small titter ran through the congregation.

This performance will stay as long in the memory. The programme included music by Taverner, Byrd, Victoria and others. However, the highlight was Spem in Alium, Thomas Tallis’ masterpiece. Rarely performed, presumably because of its complexity, this outing demonstrated what a wonderful piece it is. Singing a cappella to a packed church, the choir was in its element. Again, the imagination of conductor David Temple allowed Tallis’ work to be heard at its best. He subdivided the Choir into eight small groups and arranged them round the side aisles and altar. The audience in the middle was lucky enough to experience an amazing surround sound effect.

The audience aren’t the only ones that enjoy this music. A friend in the Choir told me that he was unable to get to sleep until 3.30 am after the performance, the adrenaline rush was so great! This beautiful (but relatively short) piece really should feature in more of the Choir’s concerts - perhaps a gig nearer to home (Holy Joe’s in Highgate?) should be looked at. Hope someone from CEFC is reading N8!

Thanks to N8 Magazine for this review.