Ensemble

Birthday Boys

MIKE WHEELER reports from a celebratory Sitwell Singers concert featuring Bruckner and Cornelius

 

'Birthday Boys' was the strapline for the Sitwell Singers' joint bi-centenary celebration of Bruckner and Cornelius, with conductor Dexter Drown, which also included a piece by a non-birthday girl, Clara Schumann - St Nicholas' Church, Derby, UK, 20 April 2024. Bruckner's Mass in E minor provided the framework, with the other items slotted in between the movements.

The Kyrie of the Mass was aptly prayer-like, shaped with a clear sense of direction. The Gloria was appropriately fresher and more festive, and the extended Amen fugue didn't outstay its welcome, as can sometimes happen. The Credo opened with a welcome burst of energy, while also taking in a suitably meditative 'Crucifixus'. In the Sanctus, which takes its cue from the equivalent movement in Palestrina's Missa Brevis, the polyphony unfolded smoothly, accomodating Bruckner's decidedly un-Palestrinian harmonies with no sense of incongruity, as did that of the accompanying Benedictus, and the changing dynamic levels of the Agnus Dei were well controlled. Organist Tom Corfield provided solid support (as in some of the other items), though the work really needs the original wind-band scoring to be fully effective.

The Sitwell Singers rehearsing at St Nicholas' Church, Derby on 20 April 2024 for the reviewed concert, with Dexter Drown conducting and Tom Corfield at the organ
The Sitwell Singers rehearsing at St Nicholas' Church, Derby on 20 April 2024 for the reviewed concert, with Dexter Drown conducting and Tom Corfield at the organ

The huge dynamic range of the unhurried opener, Bruckner's Tota Pulchra Es, Maria was handled with aplomb. Later, Os Justi was notable particularly for the tranquility of the concluding plainsong Alleluia.

Clara Schumann produced just three unaccompanied choral pieces, first published only in 1989, all to words by Emanuel Geibel. The first one, Abendfeier in Venedig (Evening Festival in Venice) is an invitation to pray to the Virgin Mary. Schumann's setting is rich in atmosphere, sensitively handled here. If only she'd written more for choir.

The Cornelius pieces were pleasant enough but somewhat underwhelming. The words of So weich und warm verge on the stickily sentimental, though the choir achieved some wonderfully soft singing at the end. Ich will in dich lieben flowed well, but there wasn't much that could be done with Thron der Liebe, Stern der Güte!, whose rhythmic stiffness results from over-reliance on four-square phrases.

Poster for the Sitwell Singers' 'Birthday Boys' concert

The serenity of Bruckner's Locus Iste, with an exactly-placed final cadence, was the perfect way to end.

Copyright © 4 May 2024 Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK

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