Another December with frost and snow, so it was time for the winter concert of the Penrith Singers.  The church was comfortably filled, the choir looked seasonally decorative in the ladies’ red scarves, and the soprano and the mezzo-soprano both wore red dresses, so we were prepared for a festive and heart-warming event!

The Magnificat in D sets Mary’s words from St Luke’s Gospel.  It is perhaps one of the most vibrant choral works by J S Bach and so terse that one movement seems to plunge headlong into the next.  The three trumpets were thrillingly magnificent from the very first bar while the choir sang a jubilant fugue.  The soprano, Susan Jordan, responded in reflective mood, accompanied by the rich sound of the oboe.  The Omnes generationes sounded as if a multitude was singing, with one choir entry following rapidly on another.  The next aria was sung by the baritone, Benjamin Weaver, a welcome return from Messiah last year.  Mezzo-soprano Lucinda Stuart-Grant and tenor Adam Magee sang beautifully matched and tuned phrases in Et misericordia. The trumpets were bright as the choir tossed around Bach’s descriptive music for the scattering of the proud.  Flutes moved together perfectly alongside the mezzo-soprano.  The upper voices of the choir wove glorious lines around each other while the oboes played the original Magnificat tune and led us into the Gloria and the reprise of the opening music.

Then followed a striking work, A Christmas Proclamation (God is with us), by the contemporary composer, Sir John Tavener which uses a text from the Orthodox Great Compline for Christmas Eve in his unique fusion of eastern and western music.  The choir started quietly with widely-spaced chords, sopranos high and basses singing at the bottom of their range like Russian basses.  A huge crescendo marked the words to the uttermost end of the earth.  The tenor declaimed the next section, intoning in ‘Byzantine style’, filling the church with the prophecy from Isaiah of the child to be born.  The choir returned with the organ, played by Ian Hare, reinforcing the massive sound to announce that Christ is born! 

In the second half of the concert, the Penrith Singers sang Missa in Tempore Belli, a fine work of Haydn’s maturity.  The Kyrie and Gloria were characteristically upbeat.  The choir and the orchestra, ably led by Susan Johnson, revelled in Haydn’s tunefulness and harmonic inventiveness.   Qui tollis was sung affectingly by Benjamin Weaver with an accompanying lyrical cello solo and carefully shaped dynamics for the interjections by the choir.  In the Credo each choral part was given a different line of text; and conductor Colin Marston controlled the intensely quiet sepultus est which then exploded into Et resurrexit.  The Agnus Dei had the most warlike sounds with anguished choir, martial trumpets and ominous kettledrums but finally settled into a lyrical Pacem for soloists and choir with the entreaty for peace: a suitable sentiment for the season of goodwill.

-- Janet Hornby

On a glorious spring evening with nature so full of new life, new life in the risen Christ would be celebrated later, for first comes the suffering, the ‘Passion of Christ.’ So it was that on this Palm Sunday evening a large expectant audience came together to witness the ‘Passion’ played out in St Andrew’s Church, Penrith, through the music of J S Bach setting the words according to St Matthew.

Colin Marston, conducting the Penrith Singers, some 84 strong and arranged in double choir with orchestra and soloists, paced the piece so well throughout. In itself a considerable achievement as we move constantly from chorus to recitative to aria, as the drama unfolds. The opening chorus sets the scene: ‘Look on Him. For love of us he himself his cross is bearing.’

So much depends on the Evangelist who narrates the drama throughout in recitative. Richard Pollock (tenor) sang with a clarity so necessary so that the listener was drawn into the story and he used his voice effectively to express particular critical moments in the narrative - of Peter denying Christ, ‘And he went out and wept bitterly;’ of the last moments on the cross, ‘Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.’

The role of Jesus was sung admirably by Paul im Thurn, with his constant interplay in recitative with the Evangelist.

The chorus frequently joins in the drama, usually in short passages and the choir entered into the spirit of it such as in the crowd scene with Pilate, ‘Let him be crucified,’ ‘His blood be on us and on our children,’ and in mocking him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews.’ But then, as pauses for reflection, they clearly enjoyed singing the harmonies of the chorales.

Also as pauses for thoughtful reflection are the arias for the four soloists. The first of these ‘Grief for sin rends the guilty heart within’, was sung by alto, Marion Ramsay, nicely accompanied with flutes, cello and organ continuo. It would have been good to have heard more of tenor, Adam Magee, who just had the one opportunity to sing, a recitative followed by the aria ‘I would beside my Lord be watching,’ interspersed with chorus and accompanied by oboe, cello and organ continuo. How I enjoyed Oliver Dunn (bass) in ‘Give O give me back my Lord’ with his sure full voice. He also fulfilled the role of Pilate. For me, commenting on the story at the close of the Last Supper scene, the aria, ‘I wish my heart to offer thee,’ with oboe, bassoon, cello and continuo is exquisite and was sung beautifully, and with conviction, by Rachel Little (soprano).

For the evening to be a success in its spirituality as well as its musicality, all must be engaged fully in the performance. Indeed, holding the whole together so competently along with conductor, Colin Marston, was Ian Hare, organ continuo. But all played their part in making this a meaningful beginning to Holy Week, not least those individual members of the choir who sang minor roles: Phoebe Power, Stephanie Chadwick, Heather Tomlinson, Alistair Harper, Charles Ritchie and Michael Turnbull.

-- L.K. Tomlinson

There is a well-established custom of marking the approach of Christmas with a performance of Messiah by George Frederick Handel.  Messiah must be the best-loved oratorio in the repertoire.  However the inclement weather on Sunday meant that only the hardiest souls braved treacherous icy conditions to attend the Penrith Singers’ concert.  Happily, there are hundreds of such intrepid souls in Penrith, and the choir inspires such a following that extra chairs had to be put out at the back of St Andrew’s church.  There was a warm atmosphere of expectation and in such weather the audience had every right to expect a treat.

Colin Marston, Musical Director of the Penrith Singers, conducted the concert.  The orchestra, led by Susan Johnson, with Ian Hare playing continuo organ, provided strong support for choir and soloists.  After the overture, the tenor started soothingly with Comfort Ye but soon he was into the arresting message that the Messiah was on his way.  Richard Pollock, whom we heard two years ago in Christmas Oratorio, sang with dramatic intensity, notably in Thy rebuke hath broken his heart where he communicated urgently the pathos in the bare lines of the recitative.  We look forward to hearing him as the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion in April.

It was good to hear Joe Bolger on home ground.  His counter-tenor sound is developing well with a wide range and real power at the top.  He sang Behold, a virgin shall conceive with telling simplicity; and later conveyed the malice of the smiters.  The ornaments in his arias were strikingly elegant and appropriate.  As the oratorio moves through the portrayal of the suffering servant towards triumph and confidence, the counter-tenor gives way to the soprano, but there was a glorious collaboration between them in He shall feed his flock where the tone colours were well-matched and the handover from one voice to the other was seamless.

Benjamin Weaver, baritone, has a flexible voice with clear diction.  He sang of darkness and light, and finally and very effectively of mystery, change and triumph.  The final aria with the trumpet was a thrilling combination.

Handel keeps the soprano under wraps until halfway through Part I.  She has all the best lines: the most exciting moments are hers and it is she who recounts the drama of the birth of Jesus and the appearance of the angels to the shepherds.  Emma Peaurt, another welcome return at this time of year, made the most of these moments with her bright clear voice.  Later she sang How beautiful are the feet and I know that my redeemer liveth with great clarity and conviction.

The choir were off to a rhythmic start in And the glory of the Lord.  For unto us a child is born showed contrasting dynamics between the dancing counterpoint and the blocks of sound.  Part 2 was expressively sung from the low difficult start for the altos in Behold the Lamb of God through the well-rounded sound of Surely .. to the questioning “Who is this King of glory?”  Then we were into Part 3 and the final fugues rolled on, bringing the evening to a satisfying conclusion.

-- Janet Hornby

England’s Golden Ages was the title of Penrith Singers’ Spring Concert held in St. Andrew’s Church. The first “Golden Age” was represented by two pieces. First, Gibbons’ Hosanna to the Son of David, a setting for unaccompanied six-part choir, sung with a bright, lively, clear sound. A brilliant start!

Second came Purcell’s Ode come, ye sons of Art, away.  So our organist, Ian Hare, was introduced to us through his most assured playing prior to the opening chorus. Another bright and joyous piece in which all soloists took part. Rachel Little (soprano) and Lucinda Stuart-Grant (mezzo-soprano) sang nicely together in “Sound the trumpet” and both the tenor, Richard Pollock, and bass, Benjamin Weaver, sang with great conviction.

Richard Pollock’s solo of the blinded Samson (“Total Eclipse” from Handel’s Samson) was followed by a piece by Benjamin Britten, bringing us forward some two centuries to the second “Golden Age” of English music, with a setting of words by Thomas Hardy, “The Choirmaster’s Burial”. Sensitively sung, both songs were accompanied by Rachel Carruthers on the piano, whose accompaniment was a delight to listen to.

Herbert Howells’ Requiem, for unaccompanied double choir and soloists followed; a challenging piece, and described as “a work of rapt, hushed intensity”. So this performance proved to be.

A feast of music by Vaughan Williams followed. A highlight of his Mass in G minor was the lovely soprano line in the Sanctus, moving into the more contrapuntal Hosanna, and the final climax dying away to a quiet close on “Grant us thy peace”.

Three songs by Vaughan Williams and Howells were beautifully sung by Rachel Little and the concert closed with Toward the Unknown Region. After a quiet, mysterious opening, the choir “Burst Forth” into a glorious ending. The choir and all who took part certainly excelled.

-- L.K. Tomlinson

St. Andrew's Church, Penrith was packed on Sunday evening for the Penrith Singers' concert conducted by their Musical Director, Colin Marston. The large audience was looking forward to hearing one of the most popular works in the choral repertoire: the Requiem Mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The work was paired with the Nelson Mass by Joseph Haydn. The audience was expecting a treat.

The concert started with the Haydn Mass, which is joyful and dramatic right from the opening trumpet flourish. The choir sang with commitment, shaping the sinuous phrases of the Kyrie. Emma Peaurt's bright, confident tone shone through the Gloria, which the c-- LKThoir finished with a splendid energetic fugue. The beautiful phrases of "et incarnatus est" were shaped splendidly by the choir and "et sepultus est" was tellingly expressive. In the Benedictus the trio of mezzo-soprano (Marion Ramsay), tenor (Peter Kelly) and bass (John Bispham) formed a pleasing ensemble.

The Mozart Requiem followed with a sombre atmosphere starting from low woodwind notes. The orchestra led by Susan Johnson with Ian Hare at the organ provided a reliable foundation and helped to maintain the atmosphere of deep-felt emotion. The tenors and basses sang spikily of the punishment for the wicked while the sopranos and altos floated a serene prayer of supplication.

All too soon we reached the impassioned cries of the Agnus Dei. The Lux Aeterna drew the threads together into the final moments of calm confidence. Enthusiastic applause filled the church: expectations had been fulfilled!

-- Janet Hornby

After days of wet and windy weather, the clouds parted, the wind was gone, and the sun shone, as the audience gathered in St Andrews Church to listen to a heart-warming concert of, largely, English music given by the Penrith Singers.

The evening began with a performance of Byrd’s “Mass for Four Voices”. The four parts of the unaccompanied choir were so clear and secure, while there was an opportunity for eight choir members to sing as a chamber choir during parts of the Gloria.

As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Mendelssohn, and as his music is such a part of our English musical heritage, it was fitting to hear, first, a performance of one of his preludes and fugues and then the much loved “Hear My Prayer”. The sound of the organ filled the Church as the fugue was carried forward in its rhythmic intensity. The audience could not fail to respond to such a consummate performance given by Ian Hare, who then continued in his accompanying role, as “Hear My Prayer” followed. Not to be sung this evening by boy soprano and choristers, to which we are so accustomed, but by soprano Emma Peaurt, and the mixed voices of Penrith Singers. And how well they brought out the anguished cry of the psalmist: “The wicked oppress me, ah where shall I fly?”, and then there was power and yet sensitivity in Emma’s rendering of, “O for the wings, for the wings of a dove”.

The first part of the concert closed with another much loved piece, “Serenade to Music” by Vaughan Williams. Composed originally, for 16 famous singers of the day, in this evening’s performance Emma Peaurt was joined by tenor, Simon Martindale, and choir members Phoebe Power, Jenny Stewart, Helen Thornley, Helen Graham and Margaret Nelson. In a setting of words from “The Merchant of Venice”, the soprano mirrored the sentiment of “How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank,” while the choir responded in solos and together in “touches of sweet harmony”.

Part 2 began on a more sombre note as Purcell’s “Funeral Music for the death of Queen Mary” sounded on the organ as though cornets and trumpets were accompanying the steady walk of the funeral procession of 1695. The choir then sang settings of funeral sentences accompanied so quietly and closing with hymn like sonority.

As Emma sang two songs, “A Last Year’s Rose” and “Love’s philosophy” by Roger Quilter, one realised how intimately both voice and piano must blend to create a complete performance. So thanks go to Rachel Carruthers for her equally vital role as pianist.

The five Spirituals from Tippett’s “a Child of our Time” were sung by the unaccompanied choir with soprano and tenor soloists, conveying so well all their variety of moods.

-- L.K. Tomlinson

In this country we associate Handel’s Messiah with Christmas but in Europe, and particularly in Germany, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is more usually sung. A substantial audience in St Andrew’s church was looking forward to Christmas with a difference! However Christmas Oratorio was written to be sung at six separate services from Christmas Day 1734 to Epiphany 1735 rather than in one session in concert, so the first question when performing it is to decide which of the six parts to sing. The Penrith Singers under the direction of Colin Marston solved this problem admirably by choosing the first three cantatas of the Oratorio plus the sixth: the four cantatas included two stirring ones with trumpets and timpani and two more reflective pastoral ones while retaining the flow of the Nativity narrative from St Luke and St Matthew.

The performance on Sunday started with a flourish of trumpets and rhythmic energetic singing from the Penrith Singers, with the sopranos matching the bright sound of the trumpets on the high notes. The ladies’ red scarves added to the festive feeling! The tenor, Richard Pollock, as the Evangelist began the story with the familiar words from St Luke’s Gospel, clearly projected and propelling the story onwards. Mezzo-soprano Kathryn Rudge, only twenty-two-years-old, sang the first aria with well-controlled ornaments and coloratura; and then the baritone Mario Solimene followed with a velvety legato. The birth of Jesus was described and we moved into the shepherds’ tale with the pastoral Sinfonia. As the glory of the Lord shone around the shepherds, the choir sang, "Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light" with fervour and intensity. Then the soprano Emma Peaurt stood for the first time in the role of the angel, arresting in her delivery of the news, striking in her red dress. Later she sang a duet with the bass in which their two lines were perfectly matched and phrased.

Highlights from the Penrith Singers were the heavenly host singing "Glory to God" in an exuberant chorus with every line and entry well-marked. This contrasted with the calm word-painting of the section "And peace on earth". There was beauty too in the dynamics of the chorale "Thee with tender care I’ll cherish"; and in the clarity of the descending bass line in "Beside thy cradle here I stand". The final chorale was rousing with the legato chorus lines floating through the complex orchestral writing and the performance rounded off with a reprise of the first chorus.

The orchestra led by Susan Johnson tackled Bach’s complex writing competently and with energy. Ian Hare provided strong support on the organ continuo. Thank you to the Penrith Singers and Colin Marston for such an enjoyable opportunity to prepare for the message of Christmas.

-- Janet Hornby

St. Andrew's Church was filled with the sound of music, both instrumental and vocal at the Penrith Singer's concert. The large audience enjoyed a varied programme of John Rutter, John Tavener and Karl Jenkins. The evening began with John Rutter's Gloria, a challenging work with plenty of rousing rhythms and changes of time, which were sung with enthusiasm.

This was followed by John Tavener's unaccompanied Song for Athene, which was performed confidently, the haunting melodies echoing around the building with great effect.

It was a treat to hear Karl Jenkin's The Armed Man. This emotive work covers so many styles and the choir rose to the challenge. In particular the Sanctus was sung with feeling and a good range of dynamics. The instrumental players complemented the choir well, the timps making both audience and choir members jump at times, even if the amazing percussion section overwhelmed the singing on a couple of occasions.

It was encouraging to see members of the choir singing the solo parts and credit must go to Colin Marston for bringing it all together.

The appreciative comments from members of the audience reflected the success of the evening.

-- Jackie Wright

(extract)

This performance, under Penrith Singers' conductor Colin Marston, with orchestra led by Susan Johnson and soloists from the RNCM in Manchester - Emma Peaurt (soprano), Alexander Wall (tenor) and Mark Rowlandson (bass), was as fresh and exciting as the first performance must have been to that Viennese audience.

Despite the wet and windy weather, there was a good audience, with the church almost full. The Penrith area should be proud to be able to raise a choir and orchestra of this standard from a population of its size.

-- Nicholas Howard

(extract)

The majority of this work is for chorus and it was apparent that the choir enjoyed the operatic nature of some of the movements, a glimpse of Puccini's works to come. There were some delightful, lyrical and beautifully-shaped phrases from the sopranos and sections for soprano and alto voices were particularly memorable. Having said that, the full choral sound was thrilling throughout but particularly so in the Qui tollis section.

-- Helen Snowball (Cumberland and Westmorland Herald)

(extract)

This was a memorable concert in which soloists and choir were admirably supported by the supremely competent orchestra under the leadership of Susan Johnson.  The woodwind and brass excelled themselves.  All credit to Colin Marston and Penrith Singers.

-- R.H. Bartle (Cumberland and Westmorland Herald)

(extract)

Brahms's Requiem is a deeply felt work occasioned by the death of the composer's mother and some contemporaries believed, was the act of mourning for the untimely death of his great friend Robert Schumann a decade before.  It is a magnificent piece of music and to perform it with such success is a tribute to Colin Marston, the conductor and the choir itself, to say nothing of the fine orchestral accompaniment.

-- R.H. Bartle (Cumberland and Westmorland Herald)

(extract)

Their [the choir's] performance was powerful and committed and sung with well rehearsed accuracy, from the soft chant-like passage Noe, from the waters in a saving home, to the punctuated fortissimo of In the name of angels and archangels, from the tightly disciplined and ferocious Demon's Chorus to the magnificence of Praise to the holiest in the height.

-- L.K. Tomlinson