A capacity audience, including many keen local choristers, enthusiastically greeted the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, as they filed onto the Recital Centre stage. Sixteen undergraduate choral scholars entered first, wearing academic gowns over black trousers and bow ties. Eighteen boy choristers followed, in their junior version – a sort of cut down academic gown over grey trousers, peter pan style collars and ties. The warmer tones of the beautiful timber surrounding the stage provided some softening to this rather sombre scene. Their Director of Music, Daniel Hyde, took his place in front of them – an imposing presence from the audience perspective – a tall man wearing a flowing academic gown, in front of some small boys.
This was a harbinger of what was to follow: tradition, attention to detail, a very serious intent, yet a warmth and variation of colour that belied the black and white.
This was a much more adventurous and generous program than I can recall from previous visits of this well-known and highly respected choir. Yes, we enjoyed some excellent performances of traditional Renaissance and Baroque choral repertoire: Giovanni Gabrieli’s O magnum mysterium (1587) (with added trombone richness), a lesser known but familiar verse anthem style work Almighty God, Which by the Leading of a Star (c.1600) by John Bull with chamber organ, and Thomas Tallis’s substantial unaccompanied Videte miraculum (1557), which featured spectacular unison plainchant, with unanimity of pitch and duration, and richness of unaccompanied polyphony. Alessandro Grandi’s duet motet Hodie nobis de caelo (c.1610), again accompanied by the chamber organ, was remarkably similar in style to better known works of Monteverdi, but was written years before the two composers had met.
Maurice Durufle’s Four Motets on Gregorian Themes (1960) from three centuries later could still be considered traditional repertoire among church choirs. Duruflé’s introduction to Gregorian chant was as a boy chorister, and these motets are based on plainsong. The first, Ubi caritas is perhaps the most well-known, and was performed at a bright tempo, without sentimentality, the alto line warmly highlighting the plainsong melody after the treble’s piping intonation. This collection of motets allowed the trebles to shine.
On finding Charlotte in the Anthropological Record, the Blake Poetry Prize-winning poem by Judith Nangala Crispin, provides the basis for the text of a music work by Australian composed Damian Barbeler, and commissioned for Musica Viva by Richard Wilkins. This is the world premiere season of this stunning work, commissioned specifically for this tour.
Director of Music, Daniel Hyde, had wanted the proposed Australian tour to have impact on his choristers equal to any that their performances might have on Australian audiences. Musica Viva Artistic Director Paul Kildea’s choice of Judith Crispin’s poem about trying to trace her First Nations heritage was inspired!
Damian Barbeler’s work Charlotte (2023) was evocative and effective both as a complete music work, and for its astonishing choral techniques, pulled off so impressively by the choir. The alternation of wordless sections with highly syllabic periods was at times both startling and unnerving, and always atmospheric. For “Can you tell me who I am?” the audience was spell-bound, and upon its conclusion most appreciative.
Following the interval, a chamber wind and brass ensemble was spread across the stage in front of the choir. An instrumental version of Morten Lauridsen’s beautiful O magnum mysterium (1994) gave the audience the opportunity to hear this often-performed choral work with new ears because of the contrasts of colour in voices between brass and wind, and the subsequent collaboration of these colours, performed by a skilful chamber ensemble.
After an adolescence of rebellion, Igor Stravinsky returned to embrace the Russian Orthodox Church, but after becoming acquainted with some of Mozart’s mass settings he decided to write one of his own, in Latin and without strings in the accompaniment, as he considered them too emotional. The choir performed Stravinsky’s Mass (1944-48) interspersing the movements with works by Dame Judith Weir, the first female Master of the King’s Music. At the request of the conductor, the audience withheld their appreciation until the end of the program.
The Mass movements are not long. They were designed for liturgical performance, although they are rarely heard in that way. The choir’s performance lived up to Stravinsky’s desire to appeal directly to the spirit without the intervention of emotion. It is austere music, angular and sometimes abrasive and was performed with authority, clear diction, accuracy of pitch and rhythm, in voices and instruments. The Hosanna sections of the Sanctus were particularly energetic.
The interspersed Weir pieces, Psalm 148 (2008) and the three movements from Vertue (2005), were somewhat more lyrical. The unusual combination of choir and trombone solo in the psalm-setting highlighted the text, and in all the movements, again the accuracy of pitch, the clarity of blend and excellent diction were evident.
There could be an argument for interspersing the Mass with contrasting works more immediately relevant to a liturgical performance. This was however a “concert liturgy”, and a bold and interesting way of including a broader range of music than we otherwise might expect.
Following another great reception to this second half of the program, we were treated to a very beautiful encore. Orlando Gibbons joined King’s as a chorister when he was 12, and went on to be a formidable composer. His simple and delicate Nunc Dimittis – Now lettest Thou thy servant depart in peace – provided a fitting conclusion to this excellent concert.
It was indeed a concert offering a lot more than the black and white attire and formal setting might suggest. This was an adventurous program which allowed a huge range of choral skills to be displayed to great effect in a broad range of music.
The interesting post-concert discussion between Musica Viva Artistic Director Paul Kildea, King’s College Director of Music Daniel Hyde, choir scholar Tom and organ scholar Paul, was both entertaining and informative. Beside some most amusing accounts of conducting international tourists around King’s College, we also learned about the strong emphasis that Daniel Hyde places on music education across the whole College.
The process of learning a newly created work was described. Clearly, Daniel Hyde and the Choir took the commissioned work Charlotte very seriously. Following the process of learning it to take on tour, we also learned that they have already recorded it, and it will soon be available to purchase, stream or download from kingscollegerecordings.com
While we heard the “traditional” Choir of boys and men on this tour, the College has had women residents for decades, and runs a variety of co-ed ensembles. Like many English (and Australian) cathedral choirs, they have a girls’ choir parallel to the boys’, who have the same opportunities to gain a rich music education from their foundation years. The choir is about education, not just performance.
Photo supplied.
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Margaret Arnold reviewed the concert performed by The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, presented by Musica Viva Australia at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre on July 23, 2024.
