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King’s College Choir at Christmas : Choir of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge / Stephen Cleobury (conductor)  Town Hall, Birmingham 20.12. 2008  (GR)


Fill in the blank - Christmas …………….. ? Many responses might spring to mind – crackers and cards, presents and puddings, and so on, and so on. One tradition ongoing since 1928 is the ‘Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’ broadcast by the BBC on Christmas Eve from King’s College Cambridge. This year however, inside Birmingham’s Town Hall, Director of Music, Stephen Cleobury also gathered his choir for a programme of Christmas music on Dec 20^th 2008, and they brought their voices with them. But this wasn’t your run of the mill Christmas Fayre – that was immediately outside the concert hall in the guise of a huge German Market, courtesy of the burghers of Frankfurt. Chalk, cheese and Bratwurst, so to speak!

As it happens,  the first three items on the programme did hail from Germany, all conceived around ‘The Thirty Years War’ struggle for both political and religious eminence (1618-48). The lack of harmony between the warring factions was partially offset by the wealth of liturgical music composed during that period, particularly that written to celebrate the birth of Christ. King’s Choir opened with Puer Natus in Bethlehem by Samuel Scheidt. Moving on, the boy trebles were as one in a Magnificat of Hieronymus Praetorius, closing the piece with a beautiful ringing Amen. Next the choir had an interesting polyphonic conversation in Hodie Christus Natus Est by Heinrich Schütz.

The current College organ scholar Peter Stevens had been underemployed to this point. This dramatically changed as the programme stepped forward two hundred years to an Olivier Messiaen organ solo – a spectacular manifestation of how the musical styles of Christmas had changed. The Town Hall pipes were given a thorough examination; both artist and organ came through with flying colours in Dieu Parmi Nous from La Navitité du Seigneur. The piece was particularly memorable for the range of notes displayed: the base pedal notes reverberated among us; the bird songs trilled from the top manual to represent the angels; the extremely long and impressive final chord expressed the power and constancy of the Almighty. Fantastic!

Poulenc’s Quatre Motets pour le Temps de Noel was equally entertaining. The choir distinctively conveyed the words of each text – the mysterium sacrementum of the first, the positive message from the shepherds in the second, the delicacy of the gifts from the wise men in the third and the glorious celebration of that first Christmas in the fourth. It was a fitting climax to the first half.

A Magnificat from Rachmaninov began the second half; sung in Slavic, the boys having done their homework. I thought the basses excelled in this number while Cleobury revealed the full dynamic range of his ensemble. A Spotless Rose from Howells opened with a tenor solo; the beautiful final note led to some wonderful harmony from the trebles, altos and basses. Many people’s favourite followed – Darke’s setting of Rossetti’s In the Bleak Mid Winter.

I found the 15^th century English words of Judith Weir’s Illuminare, Jerusalem and John Joubert’s There is no Rose hard to follow, although the Birmingham composer’s piece was tuneful.

Stevens gave another organ solo, the short and sweet In Dulci Jubilo from Bach, but this paled in comparison to the Messiaen number.

The programme closed with Vaughan William’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols. The baritone messenger introduced an element of drama, but I missed the orchestral accompaniment.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. This was true and yet however much nostalgia a concert of this kind might evoke, comparisons with the cherished performances of King’s from the era of David Willcocks would not go away. Perhaps it was the absence of that unique sound only a cathedral or high ceiling stone building can deliver, possibly the missing candles and cassocks, maybe a missing spark or two, but I left slightly deflated at the end of the performance.

Geoff Read

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