Choir of St James’ King Street, Sydney. Photo via Facebook.
Smooth-as-silk phrasing, accurate tuning, fine balance and an attractively ‘open’ and warm sound were hallmarks of the Choir of St James’ under the discreet and effective direction of its director Warren Trevelyan-Jones on Saturday, 3 November in St James’ Church, King Street in Sydney. Programmed to commemorate the centenary of Armistice, the recital comprised motets and anthems by Tudor composer Thomas Tallis, Renaissance composers Duarte Lôbo and Heinrich Schütz followed by two Romantic works by Englishman Edgar Bainton and Johannes Brahms, whose Ein deutsches Requiem formed the centrepiece of the performance.
Looking around the walls of St James’ Church prior to this performance with its many memorials to military officials and soldiers over the centuries, I found it a particularly apt setting for this concert.
Demonstrating an almost bracing restraint, the Choir’s opening performance of Tallis’s Audivi vocem de caelo (I heard a voice coming from heaven) was both cool and elegant, while exquisite cross-relational dissonances provided zest. Lôbo’s setting of the same text was similarly understated, while Schütz’s Selig sind die Toten (Blessed are the Dead) would have benefited from more exuberance and articulation. Bainton’s And I saw a new heaven has become something of a ‘pot boiler’ for Anglican choirs and given its quaint sentimentality, it was sung with sensitivity and tenderness, expertly and subtly accompanied by organist Alistair Nelson.
The Choir’s performance of Ein deutsches Requiem was warm and full-bodied. Revealing clear evidence of much rehearsed attention to detail (the Choir has also recorded the work), while the accompaniment provided by pianists Gilchrist and Lillicrap was musically voiced and weighted with impressively co-ordinated pedalling. Occasionally the excellent alto section sounded underpowered as compared to the other sections, while the basses and sopranos were the resounding highlights of the Choir.
Its beautifully shaded performance of Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen (How pleasant are your dwellings) was a further highpoint of this memorable concert. Soprano Tessa Hayward and baritone Eugene F Raggio were effective throughout, though lacked the subtlety of a more mature reading of the score.
3 ½ stars ★★★☆
The Choir of St James’ Church, King Street, Sydney
Warren Trevelyan-Jones, director
Alistair Nelson, organist
Bradley Gilchrist, piano
Christian Lillicrap, piano
Presented by St James’ Church, King Street, Sydney
