‘Creation’ sung at
Grammar concert

ENTHUSIASTIC OVATIONS BY
COLISEUM AUDIENCE

THE annual offering to music at the Aberdare Boys Grammar School Choral Society at the Coliseum—this year it was “The Creation” (Haydn) and a miscellaneous programme—was almost engulfed in popular enthusiasm. The largest audience for many years (every seat had been sold) and certainly the most demonstrative audience we remember, gave the choir, artistes, orchestra, accompanists, conductor, organisers, and the school, tremendous applause, and nearly everyone must gone home in a warm glow of pleasure.

The concert — the seventeenth since the Society began in 1941 with only one break in National Eisteddfod year—had an added significance this year; it was a contribution to the Festival of Wales; it was the first for the school’s new music master, Mr. Gethin Evans, B.A., L.R.A.M., A.T.C.L., himself an accomplished singer and versatile musician, and, on a regretful note, it was the last for popular Mr. J. T. Bowen, the organising secretary for many years, retires from the staff this summer.

And in passing, we must mention that for Mr. Bowen, who has worked so hard over the years to help in establishing the school concert as one of the most interesting, valuable, and worthwhile events in Aberdare’s musical calendar, it must have been a source of great pride and satisfaction to see this almost fervid expression of public support for it in Festival-of-Wales year.

And there were some other happy features—commented on by the headmaster Mr. Warren, in his address from the stage—to make the event additionally pleasurable to the boys, staff, parents and friends of the school.

FORMER HEADMASTER

Once again the former headmaster, who had such a large part in found the concerts, Mr. G. P. Ambrose, M.A., L.R.A.M., now principal of Caerleon Teachers Training College, was back to sing in the tenors, and this year Mr. T. R. James, B.Sc., L.R.A.M., who was joint conductor of the choir for many years and is now headmaster of Brynmawr Secondary Modern School, came back also, to act as accompanist to the choir — showing, as Mr. Warren pointed out, the bond of affection which exists between them and the school. Both were given a big ovation.

The programme arranged for this year was of the customary ambitious standard: three well-known soloists, Miss Audrey Attwood, Mr. Martin Taylor, and Mr. Richard Rees, and an orchestra led by Mr. Morgan Lloyd, had been engaged to support the choir, and a shortened version of the oratorio was supplemented by an interesting miscellaneous section by choir, artistes and orchestra.

“The Creation” was a good choice, being known and popular and suited to this unusual choir of very youthful trebles and altos, upper form tenors and basses, and supporting mature voices of old boys and members of the staff. And the performance, although it had its imperfections, which we shall refer to later, on the whole, gave interest and pleasure to more discerning and critical listeners as well as unalloyed delight to the more demonstrative mass of the audience who applauded every chorus and every recitative and aria with immense enthusiasm.

GLORIOUS CLIMAX

We remember, in spite of some reservations over tonal quality and tempo; a thrill of excitement at the cumulative glory of the climax to the great chorus “The Heavens Are Telling,” and the impressive harmonies achieved in “The Lord is Great,” and the glory and the majesty of the great finale “Achieved is the Glorious Work,” which ended the performance most worthily.

The choir sang with great spirit indeed, and the way the smaller boys kept to their task with commendable accuracy and without faltering to the last great chords, was most impressive and re-assuring.

Two of the soloists made a quite admirable contribution to the work, Miss Attwood (it is a pity she was kept in such deep shadow by poor stage lighting during the major work), sang with charm and quite impeccable style in a voice which was always beautifully controlled and crystal pure—“With Venture Clad” was just as we wanted it; and Mr. Rees used his great rich bass to put a solid and most satisfying foundation under the work, clear and true in the recitatives and strong and colourful in the arias, a few minor blemishes being scarcely noticed.

Mr. Taylor, in a work which calls for lyrical tenor singing of a kind which in imagination would shed some of the gold and warmth of sunshine on the scene, was inadequate and disappointing. His was never the voice for the role; in the trios he was sometimes extinguished. He showed in the miscellaneous programme later, in spite of some vocal deficiency in the operatic aria “Hail thy Dwelling, Pure and Lowly” (from Gounod’s “Faust”), that he is a sensitive and musicianly singer, but for “The Creation” he was an unsuitable choice.

As we have indicated, the performance of this work, with its difficulties as well as its delights for the choir, was almost rapturously received, but, in the spirit of the headmaster’s remarks in appreciation of the Press’s notices of these concerts, we must venture the cautionary comment that we should not kill them with kindness.

The audience could help in the performance of a work of this nature by refraining from uninhibited, indiscriminate applause after every item; the atmosphere and continuity of the rendering on Thursday night were most adversely affected by it. While no doubt choir and artistes are stimulated and gratified by the audience’s appreciation — they would probably be satisfied with an ovation at some suitable interval and at the end.

DIFFICULT TASK

The choir, on this occasion, while never lacking in spirit and while pleasingly accurate, fell slightly below standard in intonation and general effectiveness. Preparing the smaller boys is a difficult task and if, on this occasion, Mr. Gethin Evans did not achieve the result he must have desired, the experience of future years will doubtless restore quality.

The sweetness of the small boys’ voices was rather lost on this occasion in the impetus given to the work, and with the orchestra (playing on the stage and not more unobtrusively in the orchestral pit), often being too robust, the chorus singing had a touch of stridency which robbed the music of the oratorio of some of its lyric quality.

Not, as we say, that the enjoyment or enthusiasm of the audience was affected. It was for everyone, a stimulating evening, which we hope will be the first from the school of many concerts under the baton of Mr. Gethin Evans, who has the ambition, the drive, and the ability, to enrich the tradition.

Among the miscellaneous items, the choir, at the beginning, pleasantly sang “Worship” (Geoffrey Shaw), and the soprano voices “Lonely Woods” (Lully).

LIVELY PERFORMANCE

After the principal work, the orchestra gave a lively performance of the first movement, Allegro, with an Adagio Introduction, of Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 (2), “The London,” and the soloist gave their choices.

From Mr. Martin Taylor we had the aria from “Faust” already mentioned, and in response to an encore, “Ave Maria” (Schubert), which was his best rendering; from Miss Attwood we had “The Jewel Song” (“Faust”) and, as an encore, “Love’s Philosophy” (Purcell), both admirably done, and finally from Mr. Rees a noble rendering of the aria “Il Lacerato Spirito,” from Verdi’s “Simone Boccanegra,” and, tumultuously received and applauded, the famous old Welsh song, “Y Dymhestl.”

For an old boy of the school and a member of the choir, himself a talented musician, Mr. Walter Ryan, the miscellaneous section was a personal triumph. His accompaniment for the three artistes was beautifully done and he was given deserved honours by the singers and a fine ovation by the audience.

—G.P.