3rd December 2022

The Wiltshire and Glos Standard
Cirencester Choral Society 3rd December 2022

Of Kings and Crowns
By Clive Hook

From left, Jacob Phillips (baritone) Clover Kayne (mezzo), conductor Carleton Etherington, Tilly Green (soprano) and Dafydd Jones (tenor)

It wasn’t midwinter but it was certainly bleak – a grey sunless days with raw cold – so we needed some warmth and joy. I’m not sure the church gave us the former; ‘cool’ would be a kind word, but the music from the Cirencester Choral Society and the Bristol Ensemble certainly did. A fascinating choice for the time of year – the focus on a new king indeed but not the one in a manger we would normally expect.

The evening opened with Handel’s Coronation Anthems, and Zadok the Priest was, as always, exciting and energising. The other less familiar ones were very ‘Handel’ to the point where you could almost expect a Messiah aria to emerge. Some of these – in particular ‘Let Thy Hand be Strengthened’ – required significant acrobatics and the choir (particularly the sopranos) pulled these off beautifully. I’ve often been unsure about larger choirs being agile enough to move quickly in range and dynamics but there were plenty of examples of this working well under the energetic direction of Carleton Etherington. The choir was precise, attentive and clearly enthusiastic – and that’s infectious. Choirs take note – we’re watching your faces and eyes as well as listening to your voices.

No doubt in our own coronation year of 2023, we’ll be hearing more of these, and this choir was ahead of the game with their choice. These are majestic, melodious, and varied and so make for an entertaining choral programme.

The theme remained with Mozart’s Coronation Mass, whose title emerged rather than it being written for a specific coronation. Again, the choir worked well to capture the moods of each piece and the interchange between their wall of sound and the intricacy of the solo and quartet pieces worked well.

An interesting balanced programme of choral festive joy and sparkle with no tinsel or any shepherds in sight.