Review

Kirkby Malham Church

THE main work in the Cantores Salicium concert at St Michael the Archangel Church, Kirkby Malham, was Mozart's Requiem, the longest and biggest work the choir has tackled to date. This was preceded by a number of works by Victoria, Tallis and Byrd.

This is an excellent choir, characterised throughout the earlier works by an impressively assured technique, a wonderful clarity of tone, great variety of dynamic and immaculate diction. All these qualities were maintained in the Mozart Requiem.

Conductor Lindy Williams adopted generally brisk tempi for the Mozart which maintained the drama of this unique work throughout without ever compromising its more reflective passages.

The solo parts were taken by members of the choir, Lucy Checker, Jo Wulf, who stood in at the last moment for Cheryl Arber in the Domine Jesu, Jessica Mahler, who stood in for Cheryl in the Recordare and the Benedictus at 48 hours’ notice, Phil Andrew, Kenn Green, Chris Weston, Danny Powell and Phil Simnett, all of whom were impressive, combining most effectively in the lyrical parts of the Recordare and the Benedictus.

The choir were joined for the Mozart by organist Nicholas O'Neill, the choir's president, who also delivered an instructive and very entertaining introduction to the work. Recreating orchestral textures on the organ brings unique challenges, met superbly and consistently by O'Neill, who conveyed all the varying colours of the score flawlessly.

David Chapman

Steeton Male Voice Choir,

King's Hall, Ilkley

STEETON Male Voice Choir appears to be bucking the trend of falling membership experienced by similar organisations around the country. Well into their second century of existence and with potential new members queuing up to join the ranks, this choir of some 80 voices appears to be in the rudest vocal health.

The King's Hall was again filled to capacity for what is always billed as the "annual concert". A misleading title only in the sense that this exceptionally busy choir gives a staggering yearly total of at least 20 concerts.

The ages of the singers range from 50-something to 80-something. A slight dryness of tone in the higher voices is sometimes noticeable but this is amply compensated for by the needle-point clarity of articulation. Much of the credit for the choir's consistently high quality is down to Alan Clark, Steeton's conductor for the past two decades. Gershwin's I Got Plenty o' Nothin' and Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman were both sung with a strong sense of rhythm and a dash of humour. The Welsh rugby song Myfanwy showed off the blending of the voices and the degree of light and shade with which the choir is able to sustain the musical line. An infectious sense of fun pervaded RW Atkinson's The Mulligan Musketeers whilst Derek Hobbs' Colliers' Requiem was remarkable for the eloquent and powerful harmony singing.

The choir always shares its annual concert with one of Yorkshire's finest bands. This year it was the turn of the City of Bradford Brass Band conducted by Chris Lewis. The selection included scintillating arrangements of Rule Britannia and JS Bach's Toccata in D minor and the familiar Salvation Army piece Shine as the Light. Spencer Williams' virtuosic Basin Street Blues cast the spotlight on the Band's superb trombone section.

Choir and band combined under their respective conductors for the traditional grand finale in the style of the Last Night of the Proms. Parry's Jerusalem and Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory were sung with patriotic fervour by the choir and audience amidst a sea of fluttering Union flags.

Geoffrey Mogridge

Oh What a Lovely War!

Grassington Town Hall

FROM the moment we set foot in Grassington Town Hall with its First World War displays and big red poppies we felt part of the event.

There was a lovely friendly atmosphere and as we took our drinks to patriotically decorated tables and opened our little envelopes we felt quite at home. The envelopes contained details of people from the area who had died during the First World War, a very moving idea.

The band members were dressed in striped blazers and straw boaters which were very fitting for the period.They provided accompaniment for the numerous musical numbers in this play.

The Pierrots took us through scenes and songs covering the war years. Some of these were amusing, some very sad but all of them very thought provoking. They really brought out the mismanagement and futility of this war.The back projection telling how many were killed and what little progress had been made was very revealing.

Grassington Players are not only blessed with very talented actors but they can sing as well! We were treated to some beautiful solos and choruses. The costumes were well thought out and worked well with the Pierrot outfits. The set was simple and moving the coloured blocks around to create different scenes was very effective. The props were very authentic and lighting and sound effects were well timed.

This was a most enjoyable well directed production and, although we laughed a lot, I am sure that we all went home and thought about the more serious content of the evening.

Pam Booth