Aberdare Boys’ Grammar School

School concert again
a delight

Every year the annual concert of Aberdare Boys’ Grammar School Musical Society is eagerly anticipated, and this year again it proved to be one of the musical feasts of the season. The secret of the unfailing success of this annual concert, of course, lies in the selection of the programme, which is always striking, original, and unusual, and in the thorough rehearsal of the works, plus the vitality and great enthusiasm of the conductor and choir.

A full house at the Coliseum on Thursday enjoyed magnificent choral singing by the 160-strong choir (augmented by past students and local choristers), under the direction of Mr. T. R.  James, B.Sc., L.R.A.M., and I was particularly impressed by the originality of the programme. What a delight it was to hear thrilling music by British composers—the five “Songs of the Fleet” for baritone and choir by that most neglected of composers, Charles Villiers Stanford, and the colourful variations of the six choral songs by Elgar “From the Bavarian Highlands.”

Many other choirs could well emulate the School Musical Society and choose to sing something fresh and unhackneyed occasionally. A wealth of choral music lies hidden until people like Mr. T.R. James and Mr. P.E. Phillips, M.A., the school conductors, take the trouble to go on a tour of discovery among the libraries and music stores.

The Morgan Lloyd Orchestra1 played as a well-knit unit, and were very effective as accompanists. The artistes were Roderick Jones, the famous Welsh baritone (who was appearing during the week with Welsh National Opera Company at Swansea); Ivor Gritton2, Aberaman (a former pupil of the School), who plays the horn, and Morgan Lloyd himself, giving a violin solo. Miss Jean Lindsay3, B.A., proved a most sympathetic accompanist, and Mr. James conducted the orchestral and choral items with great distinction and complete surety.

JUNIORS’ DELIGHTFUL ITEMS

The juniors of the choir in their white shirts and school ties (needless to say looking as if butter would not melt in their mouths—on the stage at least), sang two Welsh translations—a song by Lully (“Y Goedwig Ddu”), and “O Gorffwys yn Nuw” (“O rest in the Lord”), from Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” These were two delightful items, sung with youthful sincerity and lack of affectation.

The senior choir sang with spirit the difficult “Sound the Trumpet” by Purcell, and kept up a spanking pace with the orchestra and conductor in this joyful music.

In the Stanford songs, Roderick Jones was the perfect soloist, never once trying to steal the thunder from the choir, but treating his passages with a fine sense of proportion. The choir responded magnificently to their conductor’s baton, giving an unforgettable interpretation of these sea-songs, particularly in “The Song of the Sou’ Wester,” “The Little Admiral” and “Farewell.”

If anything, the choir’s singing of the Elgar songs as a final item was even better, and brought spontaneous applause from an enthusiastic audience, who clapped between each song, so outstanding was the effect of such pieces as “The Dance,” “Lullaby” and “On the Aim”—but it is hard to differentiate between the six songs. All were sung with feeling and beauty.

The orchestra chose as their overture, the famous “Barber of Seville” overture of Rossini. They also gave a sensitive rendering of Vaughan Williams’s arrangement of “Greensleeves.” Their most interesting item however, was something quite out of the ordinary—Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony,” with its four movements based entirely on material from works which this talented composer wrote between the ages of nine and twelve. After the initial re-adjustment to music in a modern idiom, the audience soon settled down to enjoy this work, the pizzicato movement being particularly popular, and the slow movement a delight.

Ivor Gritton made an excellent showing in the final movement of Mozart’s very tuneful Horn Concerto No 4, and provided a most enjoyable and rhythmic item.

Morgan Lloyd gave a sensitive and very mellow rendering of the limpid Beethoven Romance in F, and showed us once again what an excellent violinist he is. We in Aberdare rarely have the opportunity of hearing him play anything other than musical-comedy.

Roderick Jones made a tremendous impression with his solos, the aria “Revenge, Timotheus Cries,” by Handel, and song by Coleridge-Taylor, “Hiawatha’s Vision,” each item painting a very different picture from the other. Mr. Jones proved his versatility in his choice of encore numbers, “Gwynfyd” by Meirion Williams, and “O Mistress Mine” by Roger Quilter, being equally at home singing in Welsh and in a ballad. We all know what a fine opera and oratorio singer he is as well, and his wide range encompasses tenor-high notes as well as a creditable bass register.

The only fault about the concert was a purely technical one—the lighting. The stage was, as usual, built up with tiers for the choir, and to accommodate the orchestra the footlights had been covered, so that the singer’s face was in darkness. A few of the balcony spotlights would have been far better and the houselights could have been turned off.

Among the choir was Mr. Gwilym Ambrose4, M.A., principal of the Monmouthshire Training College, Caerleon, and former headmaster of the school.

—RHIANNON DAVIES