CONCERT AT KING'S COLLEGE
Can there be too much of a good thing? The Cambridge Summer Music concert last night was so full of wonder, jaw-dropping beauty and aural rapture, that it is tempting to report that a banquet can sometimes be over indulgence. The combination of forces were astonishing: the Britten Sinfonia, the Bach Choir, two superb soloists, singers from Addenbrookes Hospital (yes you read that correctly), and all in the magnificent backdrop of King’s College Chapel; mighty organ and fan-vaulted heavens above.
Daniel Hill
Under the watchful baton of David Hill, we were in for a feast of diverse treats. First off was a choral hymn by Thomas Tallis: ‘How shall I sing that Majesty that angels do admire’. That is a pertinent question Tom. The answer was superbly well. The very opening notes filled the vast chamber with the richest of polyphonic sound – it knocked one back in the seat. The melody, it turns out, is the very one used as a set of variations by the next offering: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, by Vaughan Williams. The simple but genius idea here was to segue directly from the original hymn into the fantasia. It was a dramatic moment that sent goosebumps down the spine.
The orchestral piece was as sumptuous as you would ever hear it – rippling strings, deep pizzicatos plotting out the main tune and an ever shifting set of solos, duets, small and large ensembles among the string players. It was a deeply moving reading that held one in its powerful grip.
The next short piece was a revelation. ‘Aberfan’ is an orchestral elegy on the tragic fate of the primary school children enveloped in that cruel mud slide in South Wales fifty of more years ago. The composer, Christopher Wood, who sat in the front row, has created a touching, melodic and heart-warming tribute to the lost children. He told me that as a young medical student he had actually been in little coal-mining town helping to dig out the bodies; clearly a memory seared into his mind and now etched on a music score. The piece though elegiac in tone had a dancing, light-hearted undertow – perhaps the spirit of those little children gazing down on us from the King’s rafters?
Next up and to end a gripping first half was another newish work: ‘Vision of a Garden’ by Richard Blackford. I’ve never quite heard anything like it – a kind of verbatim cantata. The piece is based on a testimony by Peter Johnstone (as it happens a member of the said Bach Choir). He was a sufferer of Covid 19 and spend a delirious and dangerous time in the ICU at Addenbrookes. He was encouraged to keep a diary and the cantata is the result. Blackford set the text for string orchestra and choir with solo baritone, in this case Jonathan McGovern. What was doubly amazing about this work is that plain, unrhymed and unmetered text (with words such as ‘Why am I in hospital/I do not know what illness I have’) can with the magic of music become the most potent poetry. The setting repeatedly uses the names of the ward nurses ‘Hi Peter, I’m Eden, Hi Peter I’m Erika…..’, to create a mesmeric mantra of sound. Peter who came in and out of consciousness dreamt he was in garden in a triangular open space. This image becomes the musical centrepiece of this fine work. The musical language is at once totally accessible (shades I think of early Britten) and yet bold and fresh. Orchestra, soloist and choir did the finest of jobs including a very amusing take on Handel’s Messiah. At root, this piece was a tribute to the staff at our local hospital and a paean to the NHS. Here our applause really meant something I felt. The singers from the hospital (though oddly not involved in this piece) took a bow and quite right too.
The one work in the second half was the Requiem by Maurice Duruflé. Here the Britten strings were joined by timpani and brass with a generous helping of chapel organ played wonderfully by Daniel Hyde. This dramatic work has a timeless quality – though written in the 1940s it could easily have been a 19th century work. There are moments of pure beauty not least the Pie Jesus, sung with power and huge emotional weight by the mezzo Katherine Gregory. It is a shame that she only gets to sing that one bit but blame the composer for that. Choir, soloists, orchestra and organ were in perfect harmony in creating this lusciously scored music drama. It brought to an end a memorable evening at King’s. Proof positive that you cannot have too much of a good thing.
Cover Photo: Britten Sinfonia
