Lichfield Cathedral Chorus

Local composer present at World Première at Lichfield

What a strange situation a composer finds himself in when he creates a new musical work. A painter can view his pictures in his studio, a writer reads his finished work in private, but a composer of large musical works must wait for his performers and audience to gather together before the music can become reality. Little wonder then that Lichfield composer Paul Spicer exuded some waves of tension as Philip Scriven's baton descended to start the World Premiere of his new Advent Oratorio, commissioned and performed by Lichfield Cathedral Special Choir to celebrate the choir's milestone 50th Anniversary... a historic occasion indeed, which was also to include the first part of the Messiah, a reflection of their first ever concert.

He need not have worried. The work is a setting of words by the former Dean of Lichfield and current Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, who flew from America to be present at this first performance. The text demonstrates Bishop Tom's magnificent grasp of English, with its profound and beautifully modulated words reflecting on the widest interpretation of Advent, and this was well matched by Paul Spicer's varied and colourful settings, which involved not only the choir, orchestra and soloists but also followed the Baroque Oratorio tradition of incorporating hymns for everyone to sing.

The Cathedral was packed for this very special occasion, with many former friends and supporters travelling many miles, and they were not disappointed, for this was indeed a stunning performance by the Special Choir, who had clearly expended a great deal of energy in successfully learning the complex yet singable and satisfying score. Mr Spicer, himself a highly regarded choral conductor as well as composer, showed his excellent understanding of the human voice in his flowing lines, many of which brought to mind the music of twentieth century English composers such as Howells and Finzi, yet still had a distinctive character of their own. His variety of approach, contrast in textures and skilful use of voices and instrumentation were tremendously exciting and brought the magnificent libretto to life.

This score was, of course, new to everyone including soloists and the orchestra, St Chad's Camerata, who of necessity had little rehearsal time yet performed confidently. The soloists were given sympathetic and melodious lines, and the crafting of their roles as Evangelist (tenor Ed Lyon) and Prophet John the Baptist (William Berger), with reflective Arias by Natalie Clifton-Griffith (another former Lichfield resident) was excellent. Natalie's clear, true soprano voice floated through the cathedral in her higher register, though was occasionally masked in the lower parts of her voice by the wind scoring, which although admirably light was still very dominant in this particular building. The fine baritone William Berger quickly settled into in his role as John the Baptist, and the Evangelist's role was sung firmly and with clear diction by Ed Lyon.

Other important parts were taken by our excellent Cathedral choristers who produced a beautifully unified tone, but less good diction, and two very competent voices from the choir, though their respective God and Jesus both sounded a little too distant and underpowered from where I was sitting. But the greatest praise must go to the Special Choir itself, whose diligence in learning this splendid new work reaped its reward in a brilliant and memorable performance, establishing themselves immediately in a confident opening chorus with excellent diction which continued throughout the performance.

The overarching sense of building to the glorious climax of the Coming which Tom Wright's words developed were cleverly matched in Paul Spicer's reworking of some of the great hymns with which the audience were invited to join, and in which he was able to exploit his expertise in harmonization and orchestration. There were some wonderful crunchy moments when I was glad to be unable to sing through having lost my voice and was consequently able to hear the wonderful harmonies enveloping me...the second verse of O come O come Emmanuel was positively spine-tingling. And the final great chorus and positive shout of "Come, Lord Come" simply left us hoping and praying for more. A well-deserved standing ovation for a sympathetically-written and profoundly expressed work which I am sure we shall hear again in the not-too-distant future.

And that was only the interval! The same forces continued with the first part of The Messiah which had been performed at the choir's first concert 50 years ago. The soloists were joined by the alto Philip Jones, who gave a commendable performance if a little weak in his lower voice. Natalie was absolutely on home ground here and gave a sublime performance of Rejoice Greatly, whilst William Berger showed us how important the body language is when singing - his "people that walked in darkness" displayed a rarely-heard profundity.

Perhaps the effort of the Spicer had slightly overtaxed the choir, who seemed less confident in parts of their choruses. There were certainly more eyes glued to copies than to the conductor, or perhaps Mr Scriven's rapid tempi surprised them a little... but then it was getting late and the pub was calling. Again, the over-loud wind, brass and basses tended to dominate the acoustic in this building, making it difficult to hear some of the vocal parts, a factor which really needs addressing in future.

All in all, a magnificent way to celebrate this excellent organisation's fifty continuous years of service to the people of Lichfield and district, enjoyed by the most appreciative of audiences. Long may their music-making continue.

Megan Barr, December 2009