The Cromwell Singers Concert
“I could have danced all night!”
St Mary’s Church, Shaw, 4 June 2011
To quote from their programme notes, the Cromwell Singers “are a friendly group
whose philosophy is one of combining musical enjoyment for our members and
audience, whilst allowing singers to develop their musical skills in a
supportive environment.”
A first glance at the programme before Saturday’s concert began revealed that
musical skills were certainly being tested with a wide range of items, including
several that were completely new to me, and I eagerly awaited the unfolding of
the evening’s entertainment. Under
the seemingly tirelessly enthusiastic direction of Rosemary Evans and the usual
skilful and versatile piano accompaniment of Daphne George, the choir presented
a lively and, in some cases, thought-provoking programme which met with
unstinting approval from the audience.
The first item the Jewish Al shlosha
d’varim, despite its language challenges, was beautifully presented
with its message of truth, justice and peace.
The spiritual Witness which
followed had excellent rhythms well brought out, as it recounted biblical
incidents related firstly
to Nicodemus and then Samson, the latter being at one point portrayed by
Mike Barthorpe in his deep bass reference to the hair-cutting story!
The section finished with John Rutter’s well-known
composition of the early 1980’s (relatively early in his career) of
The Lord bless
you and keep you,
one of my own particular favourites,
presented sensitively by the choir.
If we had felt soothed by the Rutter,
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba played as a piano duet by Rosemary Evans and
Daphne George soon roused us from reverie!
Rosemary’s tongue-in-cheek comment about this much-loved piece was that
(in one of her roles as a church organist) she might occasionally try to
persuade brides-to-be that its title made it more appropriate for coming into
church than going out! On
this occasion, it went at quite a lick, with pages being rapidly turned over as
the many notes on the page were consumed by nimble fingers!
Something more sedate followed in the
Andante and Allegro molto,
KV381 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
In its most refined sections, I could almost imagine myself dancing
gracefully to it in period costume – (shades of “Armstrong and Miller” TV
moments) and I had to give myself a mental slapped wrist to banish such images,
and return to the beautiful notation being so ably rendered by the piano
duettists!
Back to the Cromwell Singers, for a pre-interval selection including some
contemporary arrangements of two songs from “Mikado” and one from ”Pirates of
Penzance”, Sullivan’s music having been given some clever and rather unusual
harmonies in the arrangements by Bob Chilcott and Daryl Runswick.
This was not easy music, but the choir rose to the challenge.
Stalwart G & S followers might have found these arrangements rather
unnerving at times, but for me it worked well and showed the choir’s ability to
tackle something unexpected – I wrote “brave” on my programme!
Interval refreshments provided by the local Christian Aid committee were much
appreciated by choir and audience, before we returned to the church for a
rousing start to part 2, John Leavitt’s
Laus Deo, which proved to be exciting and rhythmic in its syncopated
setting. Thomas Wood’s arrangement
of Waltzing
Matilda which followed told the story
of the happenings at the billabong, with some traces of an outback accent
appropriately discernable as they choir gave their spirited re-telling of the
familiar events.
With lots of energy and enthusiasm still available, the duettists played a very
spirited Polish dance Krakowiak Op55 No.
4 by Moritz Moszkowski – one of those tunes you don’t know that you know
until you hear it. Then, greeted
with some amusement by the audience, there was some adjustment of the
piano-seating arrangements (later becoming explicable), before Rosemary Evans
and Daphne George began to play Theme and
Variations Op6 by Randall Compton, and suddenly here was another tune that
was familiar. This was great fun,
with sheets of music covered in notes, being played fast and furiously and then
quickly discarded as the next page was reached - difficult music, and even more
complicated when the two players got up at one point to swop seats at the piano
and do a keyboard role reversal.
This was a real show-piece, greeted with much applause, and as the two pianists
rose to take their bow, Rosemary was seen to utter “Phew!”
To finish the concert, the Cromwell Singers performed
Old Mother Hubbard by Victor
Hely-Hutchinson arranged in Handelian style by J. Michael Diack (well-known for
these skills). The choir entered
into the spirit of the story as they presented an old, sad tale in often sombre
tones and with fitting expression, which delighted the listeners.
Finally, to a medley of songs from Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” arranged by Strommen,
during which the choir sang very tunefully, and included the cockney accents of
Wouldn’t it be luverly? followed by
the clipped elecution-lesson pronunciations of
The Rain in
I know that this choir has gone from-strength-to-strength, giving much enjoyment
to many people, building up their good ensemble singing, and venturing into more
adventurous and imaginative musical arrangements under the guidance of Rosemary
Evans (who certainly does her homework!)
At the same time, they have raised thousands of pounds over the years for
charitable causes, and continue to welcome enquiries for their help in
fund-raising events. In her vote of
thanks, Libby Goldsack, the St Mary’s Church representative of the Newbury
branch of Christian Aid, was able to announce that several hundred pounds had
been raised by this concert which would contribute “to supporting Christian
Aid’s emergency aid work and to helping
the world’s poorest people to help themselves”.
As we made our way out of the church, we felt truly uplifted by this
event, its varied content, and by its relevance to the wider world.
Carolyn Greenwood
Reproduced with the kind
permission of Newbury Weekly News
www.newburytoday.co.uk