I have a long-standing ambition to sing at a Promenade concert, and one of the things that attracted me to Bristol Choral Society was the occasional involvement of its members in these concerts (most recently in 2016 and before that 2012). Last year’s (A Child of Our Time) wouldn’t have been practical to do along with 3 Choirs. This time round the offer was to join the BBC National Chorus of Wales to sing 20 minutes or so of music, if one could make 7 rehearsals in Cardiff (the number of rehearsals has since been reduced). I wasn’t so keen – but then I thought that I could make the dates and the opportunity might not come again, so I took the bait.
So what are the pieces we are doing?
I would say that Purcell is this country’s greatest composer, though I would not argue with someone who said it was Elgar (and I probably wouldn’t argue with someone who said it was Vaughan Williams). I would argue with someone who said it was Britten, about whose music I have rather mixed feelings (note: mixed, not totally against). In this concert, we get Britten, and Purcell arranged by Elgar.
When I tell people we are going to do Britten’s Ballad of Heroes, they usually say they’ve never heard of it. I knew it only as a name on the list of choral works on the back of editions of Britten’s scores. It is a propaganda piece, though oddly not pacifist, as it celebrates the sacrifice of those who went to fight in the Spanish Civil War. I divide Britten’s choral works into the difficult and the rather less difficult, with (for example) Sacred & Profane and Hymn to St Cecilia in the former category and Rejoice in the Lamb and Ceremony of Carols in the latter, where I’d also put Ballad of Heroes. I’d guess that it was tailored to the abilities of the choir at the festival of ‘Music for the People’ for which it was written. Elgar’s arrangement of Purcell’s Jehova, quam multi sunt hostes mei is a favourite anthem in a different setting from the one I am familiar with.
It’s Prom 32 on August 9th.