The Lyric Singers gave a varied, colourful and well-conceived concert on November 8 in the rich interior of Christ Church, the 316th concert the group has performed.
The declared aim of president Clive Sullivan - to provide enjoyment for choir members and pleasure to concert goers - was evident. This aim,
I believe, is only part of a more serious intent on developing a theme on the role of music in the life of people and its connection to faith. Music connected to religion is referred to as sacred and the opposite to sacred is formally termed the profane which also features in the concert.
The practical role of the Lyric Singers is to raise money for charity and in this case, Riding for the Disabled. Both the choir and this charity have existed for 40 years and have good cause to celebrate.
The other considerable aim is to foster young local artists. Hayley Sellars, guest mezzo-soprano artist, graduated from Wanganui Girls' College in 2011 and is now studying at Waikato University for a degree in music, majoring in opera. Twelve-year-old violinist, Shontae Arthur, and her sister Caitlin, her accompanist, live here and both are being tutored by Alfred Richdale, himself a well-known figure engaged with music and busy fostering talent in Whanganui.
The mixed, but far from random programme, cast a wide net featuring classic composers and traditional airs with arrangements by well-known names, including Aaron Copland and Benjamin Britten in the first half. The second half featured a serious bracket of sacred music - Rutter, Mendelsohn, and Willcocks - and followed it with comparatively modern songs, decidedly secular (profane) in tone. All the varied sections of the concert were received with enthusiastic pleasure by the audience.
The multiple aspect of the programme could have proved a challenge to the choir. However, as the programme unfolded the choir demonstrated it was equal to the changes, moving smoothly from one gear into another and able to produce good volume when needed. With eyes firmly fixed on the conductor, scores sorted and ready, they were able to respond; to sing without missing a beat or entrance. Overall they seemed a well-balanced unified group, effective throughout.
The choir's confidence in the two conductors, Joan Sullivan and Joanna Love, is not misplaced, and the choir was ably accompanied by Lisa Boessenkool. When the Lyric Singers entered Christ Church, they were a colour explosion; the women wearing long red jackets over black skirts and the men in multi-plaid vests, black trousers and sporting jaunty bow ties. All of which accorded well with the richly coloured stained-glass windows behind them as they opened with The Song has Just Begun by JM Martin. This word "song" resonates as the programme unfolds.
Literally the song relates to American young people poised to leave school with the promise of the future before them, as one of the two "comperes" - Stuart Goodin and Nick Simmons - informed the audience. The song has a harmonious collective voice but the two comperes drop hints of perils to come; the forces that drive conflict, war, and the great losses it incurs. Reference is also made to social pressures that drive immigration and resultant partings.
This leaves the question of how to bring peace and harmony back into disrupted lives; this is addressed in the first section that introduce the second half of the programme.
Hayley Sellars performed two pieces, one by Liszt and the other Mozart, both polished examination pieces. Her stature as an artiste was in no doubt. She was an arresting, still and colourful stage presence, and her singing of her pieces was powerful, expressive and smoothly controlled. In this same section she sang a traditional Scottish tune O Can Ye Sew Cushions arranged by Benjamin Britten.
In the second half of the concert she sang a group of fairly modern secular songs.
These three songs I imagine are marvellous to sing; and perhaps the devil has all the best tunes. Certainly the beast in man is indicated by reference to Pan; half man-half goat with horns, playing his alluring pipes: The Pipes of Pan are Calling, music by Lionel Monkton and lyrics by Arthur Wimperis. She continued with Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man by Hammerstein and Kern, but however effective the song, the singer needs rescuing from a relationship of absence. The final one, the former modern classic Let's Do it (Eartha Kitt), is a sensuous invitation in a class of its own.
Hayley really came into her own in this bracket with obvious experienced animation and effectiveness, an asset to any stage.
Shontae Arthur, only 12, is sure of her instrument, the violin. With only a small grin to her sister accompanist, Caitlin, she played Sonata in D Minor by H Eccles, seemingly without effort. Launching into Czardas by V Monti, she allowed herself to be immersed in the irregular gypsy rhythm.
All the recurring folk songs the choir performed explored themes of parting and loss epitomised by Danny Boy which is a lament for the loss of a son. Folk music, simple as it seems, is a powerful form and has wide and lasting appeal; enjoyment in sharing sadness as it is shared in music in this concert.
In fact, this all-comers choir in which the bar of difficulty is not raised too high for its members is doing far more than beguiling our cares with music, fostering local talent and raising money for charity. The Lyric Singers' guiding lights are riding high examining the role of music as it expresses the pain of life and the ameliorating power of music.
There is more than meets the eye - more than a colourful, well-trained choir in a beautiful church setting; the opening and central bracket of songs links music and faith. Then in contrast to the sacred, it examines the sensual, earthly pleasures and pains of the profane.
JOY OF SONG The Wanganui Lyric Singers will again perform when they combine with the Taihape Arcadian Singers in 'The Joy of Song' in St Mary's Church, Guyton St, on Saturday, December 13 at 2pm. Guest artists will be soprano Marie Brooks and duo Shelley Walls and David Dent. Door sales $15; children free.