For the Fallen - November 2023 in Romsey Abbey
Our society views its own defence as a sacred duty. Our young men and women who have died in that cause are revered and remembered as heroes. So it comes as no surprise that in turn they have inspired so many poets and composers. On November 11 Richard Pearce and the Romsey Choral Society performed a moving concert of pieces in that rich vein, from beginning to end of the twentieth century.
Laurence Binyon’s iconic ‘They Shall Grow Not Old’ (the fourth verse of a longer and otherwise neglected poem) started the concert, articulated by all the voices with wonderful clarity in Douglas Guest’s unaccompanied setting. Perhaps a mistake however to follow it with Elgar’s setting of the whole poem, written when the composer was in poor health. The choir made what they could of it but the plain truth is that the piece itself is a long way from Elgar’s best.
Laurence Binyon’s iconic ‘They Shall Grow Not Old’ (the fourth verse of a longer and otherwise neglected poem) started the concert, articulated by all the voices with wonderful clarity in Douglas Guest’s unaccompanied setting. Perhaps a mistake however to follow it with Elgar’s setting of the whole poem, written when the composer was in poor health. The choir made what they could of it but the plain truth is that the piece itself is a long way from Elgar’s best.
Emotion soon returned centre stage however. The highlight of the evening was the young George Butterworth’s 1911 settings of A E Housman’s ‘A Shropshire Lad’, written with unbelievable clairvoyance in 1896 about ‘the lads that will never return’. Butterworth himself was to die on the Somme (a great loss to English music), and baritone Twm Tegid Brunton wrung our hearts with a poignant ‘pin-drop’ performance, beautifully accompanied by Richard Pearce.
Next in this fascinating programme came a piece new to me. William Henry Harris was a respected figure in twentieth-century church music, and his ‘Faire is the Heaven’ sets Edmund Spenser’s 16 th century poem about the inexpressible joys of the afterlife. Without compromising the emotional impact of the words the experienced Harris seems to have used them almost as a test-piece to bring out the varied possibilities of unaccompanied choral singing, and we got the full range of dynamics, tone, balance and expression. I have seldom heard such a demonstration of a choir as the conductor’s personal instrument.
More foresight followed. It is hard to imagine that John Ireland wrote ‘Greater Love Hath No Man’ in 1912, so much did it tragically resonate a few years later. In this classic of the English choral repertoire the sopranos in particular took their chance to soar and shine.
More foresight followed. It is hard to imagine that John Ireland wrote ‘Greater Love Hath No Man’ in 1912, so much did it tragically resonate a few years later. In this classic of the English choral repertoire the sopranos in particular took their chance to soar and shine.
The second half brought another welcome rarity: Vierne’s short Messe Solennelle, with a lovely gentle lullaby for organ as a most welcome insertion half-way through. As opposed to nearly all concert-hall Masses with choir and orchestra this is for choir and double organ, and I for one relished the greater authenticity and sense of reverence it brought. It wasn’t small or underplayed though, and (as indeed throughout the evening) the choir produced some beautiful and powerful sounds, not afraid to end with another poignant show of remembrance by repeating ‘They Shall Grow Not Old’.
Chris Amery