Review: Amersham and Chesham Bois Choral Society

The ravishingly beautiful Cantiques de Jean Racine had an arrangement of the accompaniment for strings and harp by John Rutter that was completely musicianly -adding nothing and taking nothing away! I am sure we will see more of David Emerson in the not to distant future.
The evening had started with a performance of Bach's Cantata No.140, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" with soloists Alexandra Kidgell soprano, Alex Sprague tenor and Tom Lowe bass. The vagaries of the Christian calendar with Easter having a very variable date is occasionally justified, thus it does enable us to know the year when this cantata -number140 out of over 200 - was written, the year being 1731.
A man of deep religious conviction Bach has taken the Lutheran Chorals such as "Wachet Auf" and turned them into works with their own particular glory. This work is a fine and very substantial example of the genius of its composer.
The second work in the first half of this concert was Haydn's Symphony in E minor,No. 44, known as the "Trauersinfonie". This is one of 17 symphonies composed during the 1770's by a composer who was now master of this form of composition. The clean and musical account of the work, with some excellently played exposed horn passages, on Saturday demonstrated Haydn's ability to develop fairly simple motivs and musical ideas into an integrated musical work As always a jolly finale - this never seems to be a problem for Haydn!
The final work of the evening was Faure's Requiem, Op.48. This was written in 1887, at a time when the expansive canvasses of Wagner were fashionable - but this work is different . It was and always will be unique, with a restraint of writing that increases its impact on the listener. With the reduction in the number of violins and extensive use of divided cellos in the instrumental writing the sound is unexpected, woodwind and particularly brass being kept for climaxes. The sections of the work are not those of other Requiems but emphasise the concept of eternal rest rather than that of days of judgment.
With the changes to the instrumental writing an increased emphasis is on the choral and solo singing. The Choral Society met this challenge and with, I think, slightly reduced numbers gave a clear and polished account of the work ably supported by the soloists. I particularly appreciated the performance of the baritone, Tom Lowe, in Libera Me, the timbre of his voice adding power to the words he was singing.
This is the first concert that the Choral Society have given since the death of Carol Grey who was secretary of the society for 25 years and a powerful and constructive voice in the musical life of this area. I am sure she would have been delighted with both the choice of programme and also the performances.