As Benny Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus of Abba so truly put it, “What would life be? Without a song or a dance what are we?” They might with equal justification have written “What would life be without Helen Swift, Lee Ward and Judy East?” Helen in particular is to be congratulated on the strength, confidence and ability of the Junior Choir, and on her own inspired direction of it not to mention her brilliant skills as an accompanist. The Junior Prom was a terrific testimony to her work with the choir and thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.
I do hope someone video-records the choir’s extremely funny “Pick a Pocket or Two” by Leonard Bart because it really does show how everyone works so well together. I’ve heard it twice now, the first time in the open air at the Friends of the Music garden party. On both occasions the sheer professionalism has been breathtaking. Leonard Bernstein’s ‘America’ was both beautiful and convincing I was mentally driving my Buick through San Juan in no time. ‘If I Were A Rich Man’ was sung with great relish it was, perhaps, the most ‘Anglican’ rendition you’re likely to have heard north of Regent’s Park and it also benefited from some interesting sound effects!
Until this Prom I had been unaware of what accomplished instrumentalists our choristers are and of what an exciting variety of instruments and music they play. Emma Bryan gave us a beautifully judged performance of a minuet from the Anna Magdalena notebook Emma has both technique and taste (rare at any age) and I can’t wait for her to start exploring Haydn and Mozart. Jack Casey gave us ‘The Sound of Silence’ by Simon and Garfunkel this was an interesting piano arrangement in which Jack confidently exploited the powerful lower reaches of the new piano. Christina John gave a great, energy-packed account of Vincent Huet’s ‘Herbie Funky’ I hope she’ll take a look at Christopher ‘Microjazz’ Norton’s work because I’m sure she’d enjoy it. Clementine Hollyer visibly enjoyed playing ‘Russian Dance’ from Nutcracker and I know she’d do justice to the many other enchanting pieces Tchaikovsky wrote for young pianists.
Henry and Olivia Johnson-King gave an elegant and polished performance of Jacques Fereol Mazas’ Andante for 2 Violins. These two are a great team, since as well as being excellent musicians they also project an enjoyment of (and confidence in) one another’s playing. Chloe Hellier peformed an Irish dance with great gusto totally at one with the instrument, she fairly crunches and bounces into the strings, producing a rich, happy tone. I’m sure that over the years she’ll build a repertoire abundant in humour and romance.
It’s great to hear something lively from the oboe in this age of the drive-time adagio and Rebecca Siddall gave us a fabulous showpiece, Adrien Barthe’s ‘Couvre Feu’. She sparkled her way through the very testing chromatic passages and in the slower bits showed us her mastery of the exacting breathing skills an oboist must develop. Paul Harris’s ‘The Penguins Take a Stroll’ was jauntily brought to life by clarinettist Indiana Wilson she got the timing and the lilt just right, producing a fine and purposeful colony of birds! Flautist William Andrews gave a fresh and confident account of the traditional ‘A Tisket a Tasket’ he skilfully gave a new spin to an old air. Tahlia Brookes kept her head faultlessly in Henry VIII’s ‘Greensleeves’ a charming, melancholy piece that never fails to move, especially on a well-played sax in a church acoustic. Hector Penny’s growling trombone solo ‘Downtown’ was excellent and I hope he keeps learning the instrument it has a fascinating history and repertoire for him to explore (see www.trombone.org), so, today Tony Hatch, tomorrow Hindemith.
Imogen Wyatt recited ‘The Word Party’ by Richard Edwards with great humour, immaculate timing and perfect diction. This poem contains every elephant trap you can fall into when reading aloud and Imogen gave an exemplary performance. All of us from eight to eighty who speak or read in public should have a go at this piece.
There were three very different, very talented and very memorable solo voices – Julia Seal, Joanna Siddall and Harriet Aitchison. They might consider singing as a trio from time to time the resulting mix could be very exciting to hear. Julia struck just the right balance of restraint and pathos in her lovely performance of ‘The Salley Gardens’, the thinking man’s ‘Danny Boy’, a piece where the setting (by Herbert Hughes) perfectly matches the lyric (by Yeats). Joanna gave a perfectly judged account of the great Abba hit ‘Thank You for the Music’ a piece that’s so often done that it’s very hard to get right and keep fresh as Joanna do professionally did. Harriet gave us a great hit that all the big names have had a go at, John Mayall’s ‘Crawling Up A Hill’. I do hope that she goes on to sing more blues, and hear as many of the great blues singers as she can her performance revealed great maturity and understanding.
We ended up with a spirited performance of ‘The Daniel Jazz’ which was enlivened by some amusingly pussycat-ish lion effects from time to time. As always with the Junior Choir, there was a tremendous sense of fun and professionalism from start to finish and we went home with a great sense of uplift and thankfulness that we have such promising young people in our midst.
One quibble not directed at the musicians. This concert is yet one further reminder that musically we have much to celebrate at Hampstead Parish Church. So let’s try and make sure that MORE PEOPLE show up at the concerts.
Robin Saikia
Junior Choir Prom – review
Robin Saikia