Review – summer concert July 2011
Saturday 2 July 2011
Crouch End Festival Chorus
St James, Muswell Hill
The Spirit of Life
Like artists, the life of the reviewer is often one of sacrifice and last Saturday, this one toiled up the hill from the fleshpots of the Hornsey Carnival for the early evening performance of this superb programme.
Conductor David Temple’s selections amounted to a tour of 500 years of sacred music – starting with Gabrieli’s soaring Jubilate Deo then progressing through the works of nine (yes, nine!) other composers to the wonderful finale of Victoria’s O Quam Gloriosum, sung in the round.
There were two main pieces; the well-known (Allegri’s Miserere) and the more obscure (Kodaly’s Missa Brevis). The former was breath-taking: The Chorus divided into sections – the main part remaining in front of the altar, two small monk-like groups intoning the psalm at the rear of the church and a third in the Side Chapel producing ethereal, disembodied sound. The effect was overwhelmingly beautiful.
The Missa Brevis allowed the choir to really show their paces. A robust, sombre and monumental mass, the choral sections were bookended by the refurbished St James’ organ, now back and in fine voice. Kodaly wrote the choral part in 1944 while sheltering underground in Budapest from the advancing Soviet army’s heavy bombardment. Notably, there is very little repetition in the text until, at the very end he has the chorus repeat again and again – Dona nobis pacem.
The first piece after the interval was a forgotten Monteverdi motet – forgotten by David Temple from the running order of the first part of the concert. Doh!
Also in the first section was the fabulous Life by Crouch End composer Jenni Roditi- a really lively, joyous work sung with great relish by the choir.
CEFC were at their best in this programme; although they are in their comfort zone with sacred music but they never became complacent. Everyone seemed to relish the challenge of adapting to differing styles – early European polyphony, Russian Orthodox, then the freshness of the work of a young contemporary composer.
A wonderful concert. The October offering promises much, including the Mozart Requiem: www.cefc.org.uk.
David Winskill