“The man that hath no music in himself…is fit for treasons, strategems and spoils…Let no such man be trusted, Mark the music”. William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
What a delightful start to Christmas 2019. I had some trepidation when I saw the huge variety of music that Paddock Wood Choral Society had put together for their Christmas concert. Would the performance hold together artistically and programmatically? I had no need to worry. Links abounded and each piece flowed effortlessly from one to another, helped by words of introduction by Music Director, Kevin Ashman. I’m a great fan of conductors explaining what the audience is about to hear and not assuming that every person has the same degree of knowledge as the performers. It helped to have full information printed in the programme and displayed on screen for the audience to read. Other performers should take note.
Entitled Christmas through the Ages, the programme started with the choir, resplendent in red sashes and bow ties, processing through the church, while singing the 16th century Scandinavian carol Gaudete. The choir quickly overcame the difficulty of keeping in time as they arrived from different places.
Next up was a choir and audience favourite – Ding Dong merrily on High, sung with extra gusto to keep out the cold!
Diction is as important as harmony and pitch and I heard (almost) every one of Isaac Watts’s words when the choir sang Joy to the World. This arrangement by Andrew Mackereth, the arranger of much Brass Band music for the Salvation Army segued neatly into the first of three highlights of the evening from Joseph Pickard. Joseph is an astonishing young talent, playing cornets and trumpets with an accuracy and brilliance that I would have associated with someone twice his years – he is 13! In Torelli’s Concerto in D Major, I was particularly impressed by the interplay between Joseph on his Piccolo trumpet and Emma Davis’s piano accompaniment in the first movement – not easy to get right – and the liveliness of the third, allegro movement. Both nicely balanced by tender playing in the adagio.
Having moved forward “through the ages” to the 17th century, we now moved back to the 15th Century Coventry Carol, a particular favourite of mine, in a lovely arrangement by Martin Shaw and then to the traditional English Wassail Song. It was a nice idea to balance the Coventry Carol, which the choir sang with great tenderness and tight harmony with the jollity of wassailing – clearly enjoyed.
I liked the modulation introduced into Silent Night, sung by choir and audience. I don’t think we were caught out, mainly because Kevin Ashman and Emma Davis signposted the key change so clearly.
Next came the incomparable Peter Skellern. The choir sang three carols from his collection of Six Simple Carols, all undoubtedly Skellernesque, but particularly his Were you There, a ragtime version of the famous American spiritual, this time about Christ’s birth rather than his death. It was news to me that Skellern was ordained into the church just before his own untimely death in 2017.
The brass band link led us back to Joseph Pickard, whose playing of Buster strikes back (composer Alan Morrison) on the cornet brought smiles to the choir audience and not a little foot-tapping. Again, Joseph demonstrated his technical mastery and a lovely use of dynamic changes.
The 16th and 21st centuries were brought together by the world premiere of Mark the Music, composed for Paddock Wood Choral Society by James Corse (and conducted by him) using words from William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Both James and Bob Jay, who commissioned the piece are choir members. While not a carol as such, the music brought a and appropriate and spine-tingling end to the first half.
Even the interval provided a fitting link, with donations from the refreshments going to “The Orpheus Centre”, a musical foundation set up by Richard Stillgoe, a musical partner of Peter Skellern, to help those that find it hard to help themselves. Angus Morton, another choir member is an enthusiastic supporter of the Orpheus Centre.
The second half opened in a different vein, with Irving Berlin’s famous White Christmas, followed by Good King Wenceslas – Kevin diplomatically said that the singing of the ladies of the audience was not outshone by the gentlemen. As one of the men, I respectfully disagree….
The biggest chunk of the second half was taken up by Bob Chilcott’s On Christmas Night, a medley of eight well-known carols arranged to unfamiliar tunes, with hints of Once in Royal David’s City and Silent Night interspersed. Soloists from the choir – Nick Roberson, Madeleine Bohringer and Abigail Gutteridge took their chance to perform wonderfully.
A further treat was Joseph Pickard, joined by Kevin Ashman, to play Erik Silverberg’s The Happy Warriors, another Salvation Army tune. I almost felt that the cornets and the pianos were having a chat while the we looked on. Cheers from the audience marked the end of the piece. Kevin Ashman spoke for all of us when he said what a pleasure and privilege to it was to play alongside Joseph.
A Christmas concert would hardly be complete without John Rutter. The choir may have saved their best to last such lovely blending and a balance of voices in All Bells in Paradise, this time linking music written in the 21st Century, with words from the 15th Century.
We were sent on our way into the December night with a ‘Christmas Blessing’ written by Philip Stopford and rounded off by choir and audience rendition of Hark the Herald angels sing.
Any gripes? Well, the church could have been warmer, but this was more than compensated by the warmth of the whole event. Thank you Paddock Wood Choral Society for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
“The man that hath no music in himself…is fit for treasons, strategems and spoils…Let no such man be trusted, MARK THE MUSIC” William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
Adrian Berendt
15th December 2019…
What a delightful start to Christmas 2019. I had some trepidation when I saw the huge variety of music that Paddock Wood Choral Society had put together for their Christmas concert. Would the performance hold together artistically and programmatically? I had no need to worry. Links abounded and each piece flowed effortlessly from one to another, helped by words of introduction by Music Director, Kevin Ashman. I’m a great fan of conductors explaining what the audience is about to hear and not assuming that every person has the same degree of knowledge as the performers. It helped to have full information printed in the programme and displayed on screen for the audience to read. Other performers should take note.
Entitled Christmas through the Ages, the programme started with the choir, resplendent in red sashes and bow ties, processing through the church, while singing the 16th century Scandinavian carol Gaudete. The choir quickly overcame the difficulty of keeping in time as they arrived from different places.
Next up was a choir and audience favourite – Ding Dong merrily on High, sung with extra gusto to keep out the cold!
Diction is as important as harmony and pitch and I heard (almost) every one of Isaac Watts’s words when the choir sang Joy to the World. This arrangement by Andrew Mackereth, the arranger of much Brass Band music for the Salvation Army segued neatly into the first of three highlights of the evening from Joseph Pickard. Joseph is an astonishing young talent, playing cornets and trumpets with an accuracy and brilliance that I would have associated with someone twice his years – he is 13! In Torelli’s Concerto in D Major, I was particularly impressed by the interplay between Joseph on his Piccolo trumpet and Emma Davis’s piano accompaniment in the first movement – not easy to get right – and the liveliness of the third, allegro movement. Both nicely balanced by tender playing in the adagio.
Having moved forward “through the ages” to the 17th century, we now moved back to the 15th Century Coventry Carol, a particular favourite of mine, in a lovely arrangement by Martin Shaw and then to the traditional English Wassail Song. It was a nice idea to balance the Coventry Carol, which the choir sang with great tenderness and tight harmony with the jollity of wassailing – clearly enjoyed.
I liked the modulation introduced into Silent Night, sung by choir and audience. I don’t think we were caught out, mainly because Kevin Ashman and Emma Davis signposted the key change so clearly.
Next came the incomparable Peter Skellern. The choir sang three carols from his collection of Six Simple Carols, all undoubtedly Skellernesque, but particularly his Were you There, a ragtime version of the famous American spiritual, this time about Christ’s birth rather than his death. It was news to me that Skellern was ordained into the church just before his own untimely death in 2017.
The brass band link led us back to Joseph Pickard, whose playing of Buster strikes back (composer Alan Morrison) on the cornet brought smiles to the choir audience and not a little foot-tapping. Again, Joseph demonstrated his technical mastery and a lovely use of dynamic changes.
The 16th and 21st centuries were brought together by the world premiere of Mark the Music, composed for Paddock Wood Choral Society by James Corse (and conducted by him) using words from William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Both James and Bob Jay, who commissioned the piece are choir members. While not a carol as such, the music brought a and appropriate and spine-tingling end to the first half.
Even the interval provided a fitting link, with donations from the refreshments going to “The Orpheus Centre”, a musical foundation set up by Richard Stillgoe, a musical partner of Peter Skellern, to help those that find it hard to help themselves. Angus Morton, another choir member is an enthusiastic supporter of the Orpheus Centre.
The second half opened in a different vein, with Irving Berlin’s famous White Christmas, followed by Good King Wenceslas – Kevin diplomatically said that the singing of the ladies of the audience was not outshone by the gentlemen. As one of the men, I respectfully disagree….
The biggest chunk of the second half was taken up by Bob Chilcott’s On Christmas Night, a medley of eight well-known carols arranged to unfamiliar tunes, with hints of Once in Royal David’s City and Silent Night interspersed. Soloists from the choir – Nick Roberson, Madeleine Bohringer and Abigail Gutteridge took their chance to perform wonderfully.
A further treat was Joseph Pickard, joined by Kevin Ashman, to play Erik Silverberg’s The Happy Warriors, another Salvation Army tune. I almost felt that the cornets and the pianos were having a chat while the we looked on. Cheers from the audience marked the end of the piece. Kevin Ashman spoke for all of us when he said what a pleasure and privilege to it was to play alongside Joseph.
A Christmas concert would hardly be complete without John Rutter. The choir may have saved their best to last such lovely blending and a balance of voices in All Bells in Paradise, this time linking music written in the 21st Century, with words from the 15th Century.
We were sent on our way into the December night with a ‘Christmas Blessing’ written by Philip Stopford and rounded off by choir and audience rendition of Hark the Herald angels sing.
Any gripes? Well, the church could have been warmer, but this was more than compensated by the warmth of the whole event. Thank you Paddock Wood Choral Society for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.
“The man that hath no music in himself…is fit for treasons, strategems and spoils…Let no such man be trusted, MARK THE MUSIC” William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice
Adrian Berendt
15th December 2019…