Waverley Singers

A feast of festive song from the Waverley Singers’ wide repertoire

This review by 'RGW' was published after the concert in, we believe, the Farnham Herald.

The Waverley singers carol concert held at St Andrew’s Garrison Church in Aldershot on December 14 was a heartwarming evening of favourite carols in a programme shared with Richard Stagg, flute, and accompanied by Paul Griffiths at the organ.

It would be easy for a group of regular singers to provide a jaded performance of Christmas music which many of them must have sung regularly over the years. Instead, musical director Malcolm Hicks ensured that they brought a crisp fresh sound, particularly to the unaccompanied pieces.

The choir was a delight to listen to, and the audience heard a well-balanced programme of mostly traditional carols and had the opportunity to join the choir in some of them.

After “O Come All Ye Faithful” for choir and audience, the choir sang five carols, the first being the Wilcox arrangement of the “Sussex Carol” accompanied by Paul Griffiths.

In a setting of “O little town of Bethlehem” by Walford Davies we were able to hear verses sung in unison by sopranos and altos, tenors and basses, and the most skilful unaccompanied four-part singing, demonstrating that the Waverley Singers are the most competent of choirs.

Following the warm tones of the sopranos and altos in “Rocking”, arranged for flute, organ and choir by Roderick Elms, and the “Wexford Carol” in the Rutter setting in which the tenors and basses treated us to some beautifully dark sounds, we heard Vaughan Williams’ “The Blessed Son of God” in which the pianissimo singing of the choir was most moving. The choir was then able to rest while Richard Stagg played the Scherzo and Romance from the Widor’s “Suite for Flute and Piano Op34”, accompanied by Malcolm Hicks.

The next item was a most effective first performance of “Puer Nobis Nascitur” ( “Unto us a boy is born”) by Alyson Patterson, a member of the choir.

This new carol flows gently and attractively and I am sure that we will hear the Waverley Singers perform it again, as I hope, will other choirs.

In another arrangement by Roderick Elms for flute, organ and choir, Richard Stagg accompanied the choir in “Gabriel’s Message” which was followed by a very quick and agile performance of “Once as I remember” a traditional Italian carol arranged by Charles Wood.

The final choir item in the first half was the “Shepherd's Farewell” from “L’Enfance du Christ” by Hector Berlioz.

This can sometimes seem overly long and can lead to feelings in the listener that the third verse might be better left unsung, but the Waverley Singers dispelled that feeling with another display of serene singing.

The end of the first half of the concert and the item after the interval were both for choir and audience with Sir David Wilcocks’ arrangements of “The First Nowell” and “Once in Royal David's City”.

Boris Ord’s setting of “Adam lay y-bounden” (sung rather briskly) and Harold Darke’s lovely setting of “In the Bleak Midwinter” came next, followed by Bach’s “In Dulci Jubilo” for organ, played by Paul Griffiths, and “Away in a Manger” especially put into the programme for the children in the audience.

We then heard settings of “Angels from the Realms of Glory” and “In Dulci Jubilo” set for flute, organ and choir by Roderick Elms, and “Up Good Christen Folk”, a late 16th century melody harmonised by GR Woodward.

Richard Stagg took the next part of the programme playing two pieces by the Japanese koto player Michio Miyagi. The 1st for shakuroku (a 1’ 6” bamboo flute) and koto (a 13 stringed zither-like instrument) was Haru no Uni (The Sea in Springtime), bridging together traditional and modern Japanese music.

In this the koto was substituted by the piano played by Malcolm Hicks. The second was a more traditional folk tune for shakullachi (a 1’ 8” bamboo flute).

The carols were brought to a close by Britten’s three-part setting for sopranos and altos of “There is no Rose” from A Ceremony of Carols, accompanied and directed from the piano by Malcolm Hicks, the well-known setting of “Ding Dong Merrily On High” by Charles Wood, and for audience and choir “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” arranged by Willcocks.

The choir finally wished the audience “A Merry Christmas” in the arrangement by Arthur Warrell which has become a tradition at the end of Waverley Singers carol concerts.

Much of this music can be heard on the Waverley Singers compact disc “Christmas with the Waverley Singers”. This feast of Christmas music shows the choir at its very best and will certainly become a popular source of traditional carols in many households for years to come.