Former member of
The King’s Singers, Bob Chilcott, has acquired a growing reputation
in recent years as a composer and conductor. This new CD - the
first, I think, completely devoted to his music - illustrates
just why he’s become such a respected and popular figure.
On the evidence
of what I’ve hard of it to date – on this and other recordings
-Chilcott’s vocal music seems to me to share a number of very
desirable characteristics with that of John Rutter. In the first
place both seem to have a natural melodic gift, something that
one can’t say about every composer. Secondly their harmonies
are interesting and not always as straightforward as might seem
to be the case on casual acquaintance. Thirdly, my experience
from having sung quite a bit of Rutter’s music over the years
is that it’s by no means as easy to perform as it may sound
and whilst I have yet to sing any of Bob Chilcott’s music I
strongly suspect that his music similarly contains technical
challenges and traps for the unwary. Finally, and crucially,
both composers are able to write music that communicates directly
and effectively with the audience without condescension and
that’s enjoyable – and nicely challenging – to perform. All
the music on this CD is accessible, concise and says something
worthwhile.
Chronologically
the chosen repertoire ranges from Chilcott’s first significant
composition, The Modern Man I Sing right up to Weather
Report, an unashamed encore piece that was written specially
for the BBC Singers and their conductor, Stephen Cleobury. Chilcott
himself has a strong connection with the BBC Singers, whose
Principal Guest Conductor he is. The choir is renowned as an
expert ensemble and here they sing splendidly under Chilcott’s
direction.
I was very taken
with the Advent Antiphons. The so-called Great ’O’ antiphons
are sung at Vespers or Evensong during the days leading up to
Christmas. There are seven antiphons and one is proper for each
of the days between 17 and 24 December. Chilcott’s settings
were composed for the choir of Reykjavik Cathedral and though
I imagine the settings can be sung individually Chilcott has
made the antiphons into a consecutive concert setting. They’re
very effective, conveying the anticipatory spirit of Advent
admirably. The plainsong roots of the antiphons are discernible
but the harmonies in which the melodies are cloaked are inventive,
especially in the third, ‘O Radix Jesse’ and the fifth, ‘O Oriens’,
in both of which the women’s voices carol freely around the
men’s melodic material, imitating, as Chilcott says in his notes,
the singing of birds and paying a homage to Rautavaara’s Cantus
Arcticus, a work he admires greatly.
Christmas itself
is represented by a delightfully fresh carol setting, The
Shepherd’s Carol. This was written for the televised
version of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s
College, Cambridge, where the composer himself once sang in
the choir, both as a chorister and as a choral scholar.
The Making of
the Drum is a most interesting piece, which sets five poems
by Edward Kamau Brathwaite. The poems describe how various elements
of a drum – the skin, the sticks and so on – are fashioned.
The version here recorded is a later revision, made sometime
before 2003, which incorporates a marimba into the scoring.
This adds to the African ambience of much of the work, which
vibrant, dancing rhythms establish in the faster movements.
It’s a fascinating and very enjoyable score and although three
of the movements are lively the second and fifth, which are
slower and more thoughtful in tone, are beautifully poetic.
There’s a nice story
behind the composition of And Every Stone Shall Cry,
which was commissioned by an American lady as a surprise gift
for her parents. She brought them all the way to London for
a holiday and during their sightseeing she led her unsuspecting
parents into a church where, by prior arrangement, the piece
was performed specially for them by a waiting choir It’s a lovely
piece of simple eloquence and one can only imagine the delight
of the dedicatees to receive such a gift.
Most of the music
on the disc is for unaccompanied choir and in the two cases
where instrumental accompaniment is provided the choice of instrument
is most unusual. As we’ve already noted The Making of the
Drum includes an important marimba part. In the case of
Beach Chilcott employs a viola, superbly played by Paul
Silverthorne. The viola’s nutty brown sound adds a marvellously
wistful touch to this piece. I don’t quite know why but this
piece put me in mind of Samuel Barber - and there’s more to
the link than the fact that the title of Chilcott’s piece is
close to Barber’s masterly Dover Beach.
The selection of
music on this disc has been well made to give a good variety
of perspectives on Bob Chilcott’s choral output. I enjoyed the
recital immensely. Chilcott is a resourceful composer and one
who writes exceptionally well for voices and he is superbly
served here by the virtuosity of the BBC Singers. With good
notes by the composer himself and excellent recorded sound this
all adds up to a most attractive package.
John Quinn
BBC Singers/Bob
Chilcott 
