,-i.f_audlence
- to hear
his work
performed
THE musical director of
the Guildford
monic
Choir,
PhilharJeremy
Backhouse pictured left,
- on
the
right,
with
his
cousin, the well-known TV
personality and, composer
Walton’s
terpiece,
Belshazzer's
Feast, is a spacious piece
of music and seemed an
unlikely choice for our
modest Guildford Civic.
Yet Saturday’s performance by the Guildford
Philharmonic Choir, and
the Vasari Singers worked
surprisingly well.'
Perhaps realising the
“limits
of
the
hall’s
acoustic,
- conductor
Jeremy Backhouse used
the composer’s alternative
scoring, without off-stage
brass bands and organ.
With the Vasari singers
. giving moral and musical
support to the Guildford
Philharmonic Choir, the
resulting choral sound
was clear, confident and
well-directed.
There was an intimacy
to the performance that
‘added -rather- than' subftracted‘to’ the work’s
excitement, the audience
being drawn ‘in by the
charismatic baritone nar-
' ratoY Robert Rice.
‘Rice’s excellent, very
Engllsh tonal quality was
also ideally suited to the
_;Ftve Mystical ~Songs by
' Vaughan Williams heard
earlier in,the concert.
- The well-balanced programme was of works by
20th
century‘ English
composers.5 Of . these,
-~ 'David Fanshawp is: still
“living and was in the hall
«.to
receives
the- warm
-'ffi;-applaUSe:for his composi+.tion Fanfare. to Planet
* Earth and Millennium
March'
— a rather pre-
Cdictable fanfare and light-
of African Sanctus, Davnd
- Fanshawe.
|
David had flown back
hearted march lacking the from the States at the end
of an eng,ht-weektour, cul- |
grandiloquent trio section
we have learned to expect
in English marches.
The
monic
Forest
is
a'
Philhar-
community .
orchestra, with a few professionals to bolster the
ranks.
Elgar’s
nicely
phrased
Serenade - for
Strings was played with a
good depth of sound. The
brass and percussion were
particularly. . fine
‘.in .
Belshazzar's “Feast. The
minatingin a final concert
at Carncgie Hall, not only
to ‘celebrate ' Jeremy’s
birthday on Saturday and
the recent birth of his son,
- but also to be present at the
choir’s summer concert
last Saturday in Guildford
Civic.
The opening item was
David’s recently composed
Fanfare to Planet Earth
and Millennium March
orchestra added vitality - and he generously gave of
and crispness to the whole
programme.
Linda Mowat
~his time to discuss the
score with the members of
the. Forest Philharmonic
Orchestra
before
the
evening’s performance.