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Saint-Saëns and Summer Carols: Emma Norris (soprano), Tracey Barnier-Willis (mezzo soprano), Penny Mashlan (contralto), Tony Clemow (tenor), Richard Kennaway (bass), Whangarei Choral Society, cond. Virginia Hill, with Ju-An Kim (piano), St. John’s Church, Whangarei, New Zealand, 23.11 2008 (PSe)


Having emigrated from the UK only fourteen months ago, I’ve yet to get my head round the the coincidence of summer and Christmas. At this time last year, I was listening to the Whangarei Choral Society’s sturdy performance of Handel’s Messiah. Traditionally, though Heaven knows why, this is associated all over the World with Christmas, so hearing it on a warm and sunny afternoon did little to quell my confusion. Hence, it’s hardly surprising that this concert, bearing the title “Summer and Christmas”, should still strike me as strange. Luckily, the neatly-structured programme did its best to build some sort of a bridge for me.

The WCS were absent at beginning of the concert, I hasten to add, only because they started their performance outside the hall. Singing the merry strains of the ancient round, Sumer is Icumen In, as they made their entrance and filed down the aisle. This enterprising concert’s wide-ranging first part comprised three groups of choral songs: “summer carols”, “summer songs” and, of course, some home-grown “summer Christmas carols”. Listening, I became conscious of some uniformity of style which prompted me to ponder: what’s the difference between a carol and a song?

Afterwards, I did a spot of research. Originally a lively French round-dance to sung accompaniment, in England the carol became part of the pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. It, and much else that was pagan, was soon gobbled up by the emergent festival of Christmas. The mediæval Church, glorying in its status as a wet blanket, disdained dancing altogether and moderated what merriment remained. Consequently, over the years the carol drifted closer, stylistically, to the more straightforward Church hymn – making Sumer is Icumen In actually more of a carol than any of this programme’s “proper” carols! Perhaps it’s time we resurrected the original form?

Not that this fine distinction bothered the WCS and Virginia Hill – whether song or carol, for summer or Christmas (or both together), they just concentrated on bringing out all the individual sweetness of each delight. I particularly enjoyed Quilter’s To Daffodils, for its comparatively spicy harmony, Markham Lee’s arrangement of D’ Ye Ken John Peel, for its amusing array of variations, and Wilbye’s Flora Gave Me Fairest Flowers, simply because I just love the polyphonic convolutions of madrigals.

It was a nice touch that, immediately after the interval, the accompanist was given his chance to shine. After all, in the music we were hearing the accompaniments are generally, to say the least, discreet and undemanding. So, in Chopin’s brief Etude op. 10 no. 5, Ju-An Kim – a talented final-year pupil at Kamo High School – duly shone. He played with commendable freedom and spontaneity, giving a lively, whimsical impression of gaily splashing water. I’d have been happy to have “suffered” a few more these pieces.

In contrast to the first part’s busy succession of 15 short pieces, the second otherwise contained just one work. Saint-Saëns’ relatively rarely performed Christmas Oratorio reflects on, rather than recounts the tale. Following a recitative, - less a plain recitative than a melodious dramatic dialogue for four of the soloists - plentiful choruses anchor a cumulative progression, from solo, through duet, trio, quartet and quintet, to a grand tutti finale.

This makes particular demands on the soloists. Happily, Emma Norris (soprano), Tracey Barnier-Willis (mezzo soprano), Penny Mashlan (contralto) and – stepping forward from the ranks of the WCS – Tony Clemow (tenor) and Richard Kennaway (bass) complemented one another like proverbial peas in a pod. This was especially evident in movements like the jaunty duet of Blessed Is He Who Cometh, which acquires a comical aspect when the gruff bass tries to copy the soprano’s flighty melisma. I was still smiling about that when the choir lifted what hair I still have, ripping lustily into Wherefore Do the Heathen Clamour, seizing by the scruff of the neck their big opportunity to indulge in great outbursts and murky swirlings.

It’s a fact that, the smaller the choir, the harder it becomes to blend individual voices into a seamless choral “whole”. Unfortunately, the acoustic of St. John’s Church is no friend to choral blend either, so a great deal of credit is due to Virginia Hill and WCS for keeping “sore thumbs” to a minimum and producing, in the main, such a fine, keenly-articulated overall sound I, for one, came away still wanting more.

Paul Serotsky


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