Here's my report from last night's three choirs concert. For pictures, search my Flickr page:
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It was a wonderful evening, well worth the travel. To hear these three great boy choirs perform together is something special, the last time they did was three years ago...
The opening was great, all three choirs singing a glorious Antiphon by Ralph Vaughan Williams. What a full stage!
Then the
Cathedral Choir of Haarlem sang pieces by Albert de Klerk, a composer I hadn't yet heard of. There were some lovely floating lines in the closing harmonies. The starts of this choir, when they all start to sing a line, were
very strong and impressive, but their cut-offs weren't always all on time. The director Fons Ziekman likes the big strong gestures, I'm not a fan of that in particular but he made the soft floating lines very beautiful. I noticed a difference in concentration throughout the choir, on the left, in front of me, were some very focused choristers, and also one treble in particular stood out with a clear and lyrical voice. He didn't seem impressed himself, just doing his job
They all looked really sharp in their gorgeous, splendid red robes.
Next up was a difficult piece for all the men from the three choirs, Great Lord of Lords by Charles Wood. They got some enthusiastic applause and they worked really hard but to me it sounded like too much of a blur sometimes with regard to cut-offs and pronunciation etc. The piece has some very intricate polyphony and I suspect that it had needed more rehearsing - after all, these singers normally don't sing in the same choir together. So, details aside, this was a great achievement, as the overall harmony sounded good.
What came next though, blew my mind: the
Roden Boys Choir. A truly exceptional choir. I learned from the booklet that they were chosen by the Federation of European Choirs to be the cultural ambassador of the EU in the Netherlands
They are a choir styled to the Anglican tradition and indeed I thought I was in the UK, just like in March
The absolute highlight of the evening for me was William Henry Harris' Strengthen ye the weak hands. All the singers looked constantly at their director Rintje te Wies who directed with such control and grace. The choir really took me away.
Very controlled. 'Compact'. Their discipline, their diction - absolute class. I became an instant fan
Intermission and time to get drinks and merchandise - although alas only Haarlem brought some merchandise which had to be unpacked at that very instant and wasn't there anymore after the concert. A real pity and a missed opportunity which disappointed and puzzled me. There were some other minor things that were missing in terms of organisation and presentation, like in the booklet there were no names of the organist and the soloists (which would sing in the final song of the evening).
The first song after the intermission was sung by all boy choristers from all three choirs under the direction of Rintje te Wies (so ofcourse I was already happy to see him take up this task
). They produced a wonderful sound in C.V. Stanford's Song of Peace. Libera should totally take up this piece btw!
It tells of the vision of the prophet Isaiah of a world of peace, where the lion sleeps with the lamb and a little child shall lead them. It truly sounded that way.
After this peaceful introduction of the second half of the concert came a very diverse and different part from the
Chorals of the Great Church of Breda, with director Henri de Graauw. A big fellow with big movements and very theatrical but a lot of fun to watch. First up were two wonderful pieces by Rachmaninov which doused me in warm voices and goosebumps. A great tribute to the low voices which this choir possesses. One of the boy altos at one point caught my eye as he was singing along with such expression and movement of his face and head that he started to crack me up. He was so into it and really showing it, sort of mirroring the director in his theatrical gestures etc. He definitely meant to be seen that way, I even thought he started singing extra that way after I had noticed him and started smiling in his direction. He reminded me of Kavana and Ben P but then combined with some extra on top. I only thought, this boy shouldn't get too much in his solo role as he is 'only' a member of a larger choir. Next up were two capricious pieces by a French composer, a Kyrie which developed into sounding anything like a Kyrie (which is a prayer for mercy) and an interesting and very beautiful Sanctus. French composers are not always my style, I've found, but I liked the diversity that this Breda choir added to the programme.
Almost time for the finale. Henri de Graauw directed all three choirs in Gustav Holst's Turn Back O Man, the tune of which reminded me of Abide With Me. A catchy, flowing melody. But the real fireworks were in the final piece, once again under the watchful eye of my hero of the evening, Rintje te Wies of Roden Boys Choir. The piece was Charles Hubert Parry's Hear My Words, Ye People, a long anthem which showcased once again all the splendour of these choirs. Roden Boys Choir was situated on the left, in front of me, and Haarlem and Breda Choirs formed one other choir together, on the right. The piece was alternately divided between the two, and coming together at the end. There was also a tenor solo and a treble solo, both from Roden Boys Choir. The tenor had a very light and supple voice, and he did very well - he actually looked more nervous than the young treble soloist!
I had the feeling the treble soloist was a little off tune sometimes but he had a nice flowing voice (he reminded me a little bit of Liam O'Kane). Sadly these were the only solos of the night, which I thought was a missed opportunity especially for the other choirs who didn't get to shine with a solo. But shine they all did in the glorious Amen finale.
All in all a great experience. The amount of time and preparation that went into this I can only imagine, and it was great to see these choirs not only performing well on their own but also daring to come together. The choirs from Roden and Haarlem got to stay with hosting families in Breda for the weekend so for everyone involved this must have been a worthwhile experience. Many thanks to
Pueri Cantores Netherlands for the organisation. Here's to the next concert!
I'm finding some on youtube though. The Roden Boys Choir has a nice sound.
Luckly I can include Libera in it, as they sang Love and Mercy there! Guess I should hit the hay pretty soon, as I have my algebra end of course exam tomorrow, followed by more studying and my last choir concert.. I can't wait for all this to be over! 
