{"id":2473,"date":"2010-12-07T11:18:02","date_gmt":"2010-12-07T10:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/?p=2473"},"modified":"2010-12-07T11:18:02","modified_gmt":"2010-12-07T10:18:02","slug":"carols-christmas-and-the-caribbean-canterbury-cathedral-choristers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/music-matters\/2010\/12\/07\/carols-christmas-and-the-caribbean-canterbury-cathedral-choristers\/","title":{"rendered":"Carols, Christmas and the Caribbean: Canterbury Cathedral Choristers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been twelve years since the Choristers of Canterbury Cathedral were invited to perform in the Lunchtime Concert series, and the auspices were not good: last time, fourteen of the twenty-two boys succumbed to seasonal flu and the concert had to be cancelled \u2013 the only time a lunchtime concert has been called off.<\/p>\n

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In fine voice: Cathedral Choristers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This time, however, fortune favoured them, and they performed a varied programme, ranging from the warmth of Caribbean calypso to the chill of winter, to a highly enthusiastic audience.<\/p>\n

They began with the Baroque, opening with a bright rendition of Purcell\u2019s \u2018Sound the Trumpet\u2019 from Come Ye Sons of Art<\/em>, and Vivaldi\u2019s motet \u2018Nulla in mundo pax sincera.\u2019 Thence to Jamaica, with local composer Brian Kelly\u2019s setting of the \u2018Magnificat,\u2019 which features calypso rhythms in the accompaniment, and was delivered with a great sense of rhythmic vitality.<\/p>\n

Stanford\u2019s \u2018Song of Peace\u2019 from the Four Bible Songs<\/em> gave the first intimation of the Advent season, with a brief quotation from the opening of the melody to \u2018O Come, O Come Emmanuel,\u2019 before winter truly arrived with Chilcott\u2019s Midwinter<\/em>, a setting of the text of \u2018In the bleak mid-winter\u2019 in Chilcott\u2019s trademark sugary harmonic style.<\/p>\n

The Choristers then rode a jolly romp through \u2018As I outrode the endless night\u2019 before the more contemplative \u2018I wonder as I wander\u2019 by Richard Lloyd, a lyrical meditation on the familiar melody.<\/p>\n

Finally, the boys broke ranks and arrayed themselves around the Gulbenkian stage to sing the popular \u2018Twelve Days of Christmas\u2019 in a setting that scattered the individual lines around the singers, grouped in ones and twos; the last occurrence of the partridge in a pear tree needed a second attempt, in order to finish on a final flourish which the young chap singing it forgot first time round, but the audience didn\u2019t mind: he\u2019d sung it so many times around, who could blame him ?<\/p>\n

Rapturous applause from a delighted crowd brought forth a lively encore, Love Changes Everything, <\/em>delivered in ebullient style.<\/p>\n

Conducted throughout with great craft by Director of the Choristers, David Flood, and accompanied with terrific sensitivity on the piano by Simon Lawford, this was a fine finale to the term\u2019s lunchtime series. The Choristers are heading into their own musical Christmas rush: we wish them well.<\/p>\n

\"Furley<\/a>
Sponsors of the Lunchtime Concert series<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n