Grantham Choral Society performs carol concert at St Swithun’s Church in Long Bennington
Christmas really wouldn’t be Christmas without a carol concert, so it was a pleasure to hear the first of two such performances by the Grantham Choral Society, under the direction of their conductor David Humphreys, at St Swithun’s Church, Long Bennington on Saturday afternoon.
All the traditional elements were included, albeit some with a novel twist, including a generous handful of congregational carols for the audience to sing.
It’s always exciting to hear sopranos soar above everybody else’s voices with David Willcocks’ instantly recognizable splendid descants to ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’, and ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’ practically raising the rafters, together with crunchy organ harmonies adding spice to the mix.
The choir dealt magnificently with the intricate repeats in the evergreen, sweet, and justly popular ‘Sussex Carol’ while tenors and basses more than perfectly adequately dealt with a tricky corner in an arrangement of ‘O Holy Night’.
Grantham-based composer, and founding conductor of the choral society, Philip Lank’s ‘Hush My Dear’ made a particular impression on everyone.
This piece warrants hearing again, as do the two Chorale Preludes for organ by William Lloyd Webber played by accompanist Ivan Linford.
The other engaging novelty was the inclusion of two very different readings on Christmas themes, the first a comically funny version of the Nativity story given by Judy Hadley and the second, an extract from Thomas Hardy’s ‘Under The Greenwood Tree’, read by David Kay.
Members of St Swithun’s Church had most generously gone out of their way to provide seasonal refreshments in the interval - it was a cold afternoon, after all – and, while the inclusion of ‘Hark, the Herald Angel’, complete with thundering bass line brought the audience’s contribution to a rousing end, the choir (with organ accompaniment), offered William Mathias’ irrepressible ‘Sir Christèmas’ as a petit four to conclude.
The Choral Society will be offering this concert a second time (with a few minor changes), on Wednesday evening (December 18), at ChristChurch in Finkin Street.
By James Bone