There's a lot going on these days and one pleasant evening was that presented recently by The New Choral Singers at Ta' Xbiex parish church. Directed by Robert Calleja, the aim of the concert was to provide pleasant, mostly light music ideal for this time of the year. The fare provided was both sacred and secular. A few works were unaccompanied; these included the smoothly performed Celtic traditional piece Morning Has Broken and the lively Negro spiritual I'm Gonna Sing. Equally lively was the African traditional chant, Siyahamba, a work I always associate with this choir.
During this concert there were two very busy accompanists, namely Romina Morrow, on electronic keyboard, and John Aquilina, on organ. It was the latter who actually opened the concert with the processional Rhosymedre No. 2. This is a prelude from a set of three by Vaughan Williams based on Welsh hymn tunes. The numbers performed followed in a smooth manner, beginning with a very balanced Light a Candle by Carl Strommen and continuing with John Rutter's ever beautiful and effective hymn of praise, All Things Bright and Beautiful. There were smooth entries in Geoffrey Nobes's You Are The Peace Of All Things Calm while the uncommon feature of the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria was its arrangement for choir eschewing a solo element.
The organ added to the drama in Robert Calleja's arrangement of Joaquin Prieto's The Wedding (which many know as La Novia). Mozart's Ave Verum, the traditional piece Amazing Grace and Bob Chilcott's arrangement of the traditional piece Irish Blessing were well-phrased and cohesive. Later a reduced choral formation of 10 female and six male singers gave a very good rendering of another Nobes piece, The Peace of Christ Be With You. The same formation took part in Franck's Panis Angelicus. This featured solo soprano Louiselle Pace Gouder. While the bass section lost some lustre here the soloist had too much tremolo in her voice. The full choral forces did well when singing the Schubert Ave Maria with the same soloist. That tremolo needs to be checked and this time, the soloist who undoubtedly knows the part very well, tended to project her voice too much in the direction of the director rather than out into the nave of the church.
The choir's singing of Richard Rodgers's You'll Never Walk Alone was initially uneven. Some of the high passages were rather untidily tackled by the male section. All was well with Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and another Rutter piece, Look at the World, turned out to be one of the evening's most beautiful pieces. Rutter is never short of beautiful melodious pieces as was proved again in his The Lord Bless You and Keep You. Cohesion and crisp phrasing marked Howard Goodall's setting of that popular psalm The Lord is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want. The recessional at the end of the concert was William Mathias's piece for organ, a rousing Fanfare.
During this concert there were two very busy accompanists, namely Romina Morrow, on electronic keyboard, and John Aquilina, on organ. It was the latter who actually opened the concert with the processional Rhosymedre No. 2. This is a prelude from a set of three by Vaughan Williams based on Welsh hymn tunes. The numbers performed followed in a smooth manner, beginning with a very balanced Light a Candle by Carl Strommen and continuing with John Rutter's ever beautiful and effective hymn of praise, All Things Bright and Beautiful. There were smooth entries in Geoffrey Nobes's You Are The Peace Of All Things Calm while the uncommon feature of the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria was its arrangement for choir eschewing a solo element.
The organ added to the drama in Robert Calleja's arrangement of Joaquin Prieto's The Wedding (which many know as La Novia). Mozart's Ave Verum, the traditional piece Amazing Grace and Bob Chilcott's arrangement of the traditional piece Irish Blessing were well-phrased and cohesive. Later a reduced choral formation of 10 female and six male singers gave a very good rendering of another Nobes piece, The Peace of Christ Be With You. The same formation took part in Franck's Panis Angelicus. This featured solo soprano Louiselle Pace Gouder. While the bass section lost some lustre here the soloist had too much tremolo in her voice. The full choral forces did well when singing the Schubert Ave Maria with the same soloist. That tremolo needs to be checked and this time, the soloist who undoubtedly knows the part very well, tended to project her voice too much in the direction of the director rather than out into the nave of the church.
The choir's singing of Richard Rodgers's You'll Never Walk Alone was initially uneven. Some of the high passages were rather untidily tackled by the male section. All was well with Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and another Rutter piece, Look at the World, turned out to be one of the evening's most beautiful pieces. Rutter is never short of beautiful melodious pieces as was proved again in his The Lord Bless You and Keep You. Cohesion and crisp phrasing marked Howard Goodall's setting of that popular psalm The Lord is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want. The recessional at the end of the concert was William Mathias's piece for organ, a rousing Fanfare.