Musical Chairs

At our recent AGM, held on 26 September, Pam Moult bowed out after 5 years as Chairman.

And what busy and successful years they have been!

In addition to performing a wide range of both traditional and modern choral works at the RNCM, we have sung with the ELO in the Bridgewater, given a concert version of a G&S opera, toured in France and Italy, sung for Barnardos in Stockport Town Hall and with Chesterfield Philharmonic in Chesterfield and Sheffield, as well as appearing alternate years at Cartmel and giving two local carol concerts each Christmas, partly for charity.

Initiatives introduced during Pam’s tenure have included: the Newsletter, an annual Singing Day and open rehearsal, a Marketing Study, a Funding Team, a Publicity Team, an annual charity shop, an annual dinner with cabaret, Patrons and Sponsors, the move to Altrincham Methodist church – and a new ACS logo.

The choir itself is in great shape, membership is rising, our financial position is sound and our website is attracting more and more attention from potential singers and audience.

So, well done, Pam, and many thanks for five years of inspiration – and perspiration! – and also thanks to the large number of largely unsung helpers who - week in, week out - make it all happen.

Dudley Harrop was elected the new Chairman.

Dudley’s first concert with the choir was exactly 10 years ago – Haydn’s Creation at St Peter’s on 25 November 1995. He led the Marketing Group which reported in the summer of 2003 and then the Funding Team which helped to improve the inflow of financial support – something which he is keen to see developed much further in the future. As he said in his ‘acceptance speech’ at the AGM, Pam will be a hard act to follow. One particular aim he’d like to pursue is to have a ‘Sold Out’ sign at the front door of the RNCM for most of our concerts. We can do it!

Storms over San Margherita

Proudly showing off our ACS T-shirts, we made our way to rehearse in our first Venetian venue, a church now converted into a college auditorium in a classical style. It felt manageable and had good acoustics. We missed our usual colleagues (yes, honestly!) but it made for an interesting change.

There was another transformation. Jane and Ann had already given two great performances in England but this time our conductor wanted something more. While the rest of the choir sat and watched from the audience, Steven worked his magic and our two soloists suddenly found themselves projected into a different league.

As the evening performance approached, the skies darkened and some of us collected umbrellas before setting off along the miles of canals and passages to San Margherita. Sure enough the heavens opened and the choir’s stragglers got well and truly soaked - not that the early party could feel smug because they got hopelessly lost and somehow managed to detour via San Rocco!

Musically this was arguably the best of our four concerts. It was atmospheric too, with some of the audience perched on the balconies and a dramatic electric storm for accompaniment. Just before the end of the encore a local woman jumped to her feet shouting “Bravi, bravi!”.

Before and after the concert there was a lot of organisation going on in the background, mainly by Pam but with others helping in all sorts of ways. For instance, Helen reluctantly tore herself away from parental duties to act as Steven’s Italian speechwriter and we were really impressed when Steven launched into fluent Italian.

San Stefano - simply stunning

This venue seemed curiously named because none of us could think of anyone called Steven who was particularly saintly. Those who forged ahead with their sightseeing reported that the building was stunning, but nothing prepared us for such a dramatic church - it was huge, with a wow factor even beyond Cartmel.

The rehearsal gave a taste of what was to come. The acoustics were extremely rewarding and required more than our usual clarity and precision because the slightest errant voice could be detected. Our two soloists could be heard just as well from a far corner as close by, though they reported that it seemed a daunting place to fill.

Out in the heat, our marketing team were hard at work handing out posters and many of us spent dinner recruiting from adjacent tables. Our ACS T-shirts were also spreading the news.

The performance started with a reassuring audience of well over 100. Vivaldi’s Gloria and its solos went particularly well in response to Steven’s earlier coaching and it was quite something to realise that we had brought this work back to within a short walk of its origins!

The audience continued to shuffle in off the street and almost filled this vast church to capacity, giving us more and more confidence. They became increasingly attentive as the concert progressed. Lydia’s first piece had them gripped, as did the choral programme that followed - even though the Haydn suffered a major skirmish over exactly which bar we were in. The Palestrina was particularly effective.

Between the two linked Mozart movements, Steven’s hands still held high, the audience were so enraptured they even tried to applaud. We put absolutely everything into the stirring Beethoven finale “Hallelujah” and the audience were overwhelmed. The priest decided that we had finished and rapidly switched on all the lights and made a quick goodbye speech. But Steven stuck to the plan and rewarded the audience with our two encores sung from memory. In this fabulous church, sung faultlessly (the tenors managing their best ever “Irreprehensibilis est”), this was the high point of all our summer concerts. There were even the beginnings of a standing ovation. What a way to finish!
Caroline (Soprano 1) and Bob (Bass 1) Harris August 2005

Just a Façade?

As part of our trip to Venice this summer, we were lucky to go on a guided walking tour of ‘Unknown Venice’. One of the more interesting parts of this walk was church of a Franciscan monastery called St Francesco della Vigna – a church built on an old vineyard.

Church architecture of this period used a lot of symbolism, and the translation of the symbolism on the outside of this church was particularly fascinating. The explanation of this is not generally recorded, but was passed on to our guide by one of the friars who still lives there.

Most of the local worshippers could not read, and so the information to be gleaned from this façade when it was originally created was an important way of getting across the Church’s message.

The church was begun by Sansovino in 1534, in accordance with the Renaissance theories of harmonic proportions, and replaced an older Gothic church. Palladio rebuilt the façade in 1569 and this was his first major work in Venice. He was employed by the patriarch Grimani who had just been discharged from a dangerous trial (having been accused of heresy), so in a way, this façade can also be seen as a celebration of his true faith.

First of all, there are 2 tall statues set in the front wall: Moses, described as “minister umbrarum” (the servant of shadows, but also the man who took Jews out of the shadows of Egypt towards the light of the right faith), and St. Paul, “dispensator luci” - one who spreads (the) light (of the new faith).

Then there are 2 marble plates (both sides of the façade), which have to be read together: “accede ad hoc ne deseras spirituale” = enter this (church) end never leave (your) spiritual way, and “non sine jurgi exteriori interiorique bello” = not without an exterior and inner struggle.

On top is the statue of a sick eagle. Usually the eagle is represented as a bold and strong bird, close to God or any other deity. Here the eagle is sick because it means that man also is sick until he enters the church to get spiritual uplift, and regain his inner strength which enables him to fly up high again towards God.

On the tympanum at the top is the dedication: “Deo Utriusque temple aedificatori ac reparatory” (to God, who has built and repaired both temples) which refers not only to the actual church (which was rebuilt on the site of a previous one), but also to the human bein a temple created by God which also needs repairing.

Making an exhibition of ourselves

To accompany the recent AGM, Anne Bullock mounted a superb exhibition of photos, old programmes and press cuttings tracing the history of ACS over the last 60 years. She had managed to find an item from the Altrincham Guardian from July 1945 which mentioned the plan to form a choir in the district. The text of this letter is included in the programme for our current concert. Later items from the same newspaper described the first two concerts – reproduced below.

Anne also insisted on providing us with a wonderful selection of cakes and other goodies. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay long – Steven wanted to carry on with the rehearsal. Pity, really. Many thanks, Anne.

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From the Altrincham Guardian - November, 1945

The Altrincham and District Choral Society was given an enthusiastic reception when making its first public appearance at the Stamford Hall, Altrincham, in a combined choral and orchestral concert organised by the Hale North Wardens Committee. The proceeds were for the new building fund of Altrincham General Hospital.

The concert was under the baton of Mr G.M. Forster. The soloists were John Harston and J. Morgan (tenors) and Gilbert Stewart (bass). Mrs Walker provided a skilful and sympathetic accompaniment.

From the Altrincham Guardian - Early 1946?

The newly-formed Altrincham and District Choral Society’s concert at St Baldred’s Hall last week was given in connection with Hale Thanksgiving Week, with proceeds going to the Altrincham General Hospital. It suggested that this musical body is likely to become a cultural asset to the district.

Under the direction of Mr Forster, the choir, which at present is some 60 strong, presented a programme of choruses, part songs and solos. In most of the concerted pieces the attack was marked and the choir responded well to the conductor. It was evident that much conscientious work had been put into rehearsals.

In a programme which, very wisely, was not too ambitious, an outstanding item was an unusual setting of ‘Simple Simon’ given as a male voice quartet, in which the well balanced singing brought out some charming harmonies. Vaughan Williams’ ‘Sweet Day’ revealed a purity of tone highly creditable to a society formed as recently as September last. Not unexpectedly, the tenor and bass sections require more strength and when this defect has been remedied the choir’s progress should be interesting.

Humour was introduced by two masculine ‘young ladies’ who modestly hid their identity under the pseudonym of ‘The Twinkle Sisters’. A display of folk dancing was given by a party of six boys who cleverly wove their way through an intricate Northumberland dance and also performed a stick dance with cheerful disregard for their knuckles.

(Ed. – Interesting how so much hasn’t changed – conscientious work in rehearsals, purity of tone, lack of tenors and basses and, of course, the ‘charming harmonies’ of the male voices! And we HAVE become a cultural asset to the district!)