The Frome Festival got off to a flying start at Christ Church on Saturday 30th June.
John Payne reports, “We are a week early, maybe, but this was the Festival prelude concert, given by an excellent visiting choir from Suffolk, the Gyppeswyk Singers.
They are a non-auditioned choir of over 40 voices, and this event was part of their 2018 summer tour of the West Country. They sing to support local charities, which in this case included Frome Food Bank and the Dorothy House Hospice.
“The choir has a lovely tone, which matched beautifully the fine acoustics of Christ Church. The first piece, William Byrd’s ‘Ave Verum’ announced their emphatic intentions with soaring sopranos, precise phrasing, and a good solid bass-line, which held throughout the evening. I was reminded of composer John Rutter’s view of the bass-line as the foundation of Western choral music.
“Some of the pieces chosen on a very hot summer’s evening did seem a little unseasonal – chorales from Bach’s St John Passion more usually heard at Easter, and a couple of Christmas carols, but they gave clues to the ample breadth of the choir’s repertoire.
“A highlight for me was ‘An Abundance of Blessings’ for baritone, choir and harp by Bath-born Brian Latchem, a choir member. There was a magical simplicity in the music, like singing a sick child to sleep, only slightly dented by a depleted tenor section (only half the tenors were able to travel). The harp accompaniment by Kent-based Anna Wynne added greatly to the magic of this piece.
“Piano duets by conductor Geoff Lavery and accompanist Peter Willsher added variety to each half and gave the singers a few moments’ rest. A Scott Joplin piano rag in the second half announced a change of tone, which introduced the second major work of the evening. Bob Chilcott’s ‘A Little Jazz Mass’ is a lively piece for all seasons, which the singers clearly enjoyed as much as I did.
“The concert was well received by the audience who were treated to a lovely and heart-felt rendering of the African-American spiritual ‘Were you There’ as an encore.”
