Straight back from holiday, and hot-footing it from a church awayday deep in the Mendips, I dashed over to Bristol to sing in the first concert I’ve done with Bristol Choral Society since summer 2019. This event defied many potential hindrances, not least a demonstration outside the Cathedral when we were due to rehearse there. Our final rehearsal was therefore split in two, starting at St Peter’s Henleaze before moving on to the Cathedral once the demo had dispersed.
We presented a short programme mixing the relatively familiar with the less well-known. Elizabeth Poston’s Festal Te Deum for choir, organ and trumpet has only recently been rediscovered and this was its first public performance since the 1950s. It is very different in style from Jesus Christ the Apple Tree with abrupt rhythms and angular vocal lines (I thought she had it in for the 2nd sopranos till I heard what the 1sts had to do!). But it shows she definitely had a distinctive voice. It doesn’t set the complete text, but ends at ‘and we worship Thy name, ever world without end’. I read in the programme that during the Second World War Poston was involved in sending coded messages using music broadcast on the BBC, and I’d love to know more about this.
Like other choirs, we are drawing on what I think of as chamber choir repertoire as we resume concerts, and I don’t think I’d ever done Finzi’s Lo the Full, Final Sacrifice with such large forces. We gave another outing to Gustav Holst’s setting of Psalm 148, and ended with Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, with Freddie Long as soloist.
Our orchestra was the strings of the British Sinfonietta, who treated us to an unconducted performance of Sibelius’ Andante Festivo, an attractive piece previously unknown to me. It seems to have been close to its composer’s heart, as it was played at his funeral. Not bad for a piece originally commemorating the anniversary of the opening of a sawmill! Did mills in Britain ever commission composers?