Passion at the Abbey a bold decision by Newbury Chamber Choir
Newbury Chamber Choir: John Stainer: The Crucifixion and other music for Lent
at Douai Abbey
on Saturday, April 5
Review by BARNABY WHEELER
Newbury Chamber Choir, who usually perform in St John’s Church, made a bold decision to try the very different acoustic of Douai Abbey.
The moment the first chord of Tallis, O Nata Lux filled this vast space with its ascetic resonance we knew that the gamble had paid off handsomely.
The simplicity of this work is perfectly suited to this venue and it sounded beautiful. The first half continued with a deliberately non-chronological sequence of music on the theme of Lent including choral music by S S Wesley - Oh Lord My King, C V Stanford - Oh! For a closer walk with God, Antonio Lotti - Crucifixus, and contemporary composer Gabriel Jackson - Tantum ergo.
There were also two choral preludes by JS Bach in the mix, played most sensitively by organist Robert Patterson.
The sizeable audience instinctively refrained from applauding after each piece and waited until the end. This allowed a solemn and contemplative atmosphere to accumulate through to the closing hymn Now my life is ended written by JSB’s father’s cousin, JCB, the closing phrase of each verse punctuated by a gentle rising scale in the sopranos.
Our host, Father Alex, brought the short interval to an orderly close with a firm call to order and a prayer.
We had to prepare ourselves for John Stainer’s substantial Crucifixion which was inspired by Bach’s St Matthew Passion.
It is one thing to admire a masterpiece but quite another to emulate it. While this work is well constructed, in my opinion it does not quite fly. Having said this, the ensemble gave us a lively and convincing account and the audience did its best with the three hymns down for universal participation, one familiar, the others less so.
The tenor recitative was sung by the choir’s own Gordon Fry, with a well judged narrative line and some fine high notes which filled the church. The visiting bass, Greg Link, brought great spiritual drama to the voice of the Redeemer - Could ye not watch with Me one brief hour?
Our seasonal meditation closed with a fluent and tuneful unaccompanied Lord’s Prayer specially composed by the choir’s director Ben de Souza.
