Tongswood Chamber Choir is a small, friendly group based in and around East Sussex which aims to sing a wide-ranging repertoire of choral music to a high standard. The singers perform three to four concerts a year, raising money for local charities at venues such as Great Dixter, Scotney Castle and Westminster Abbey.
Liz and Andew Bamji went to their Advent concert on Sunday December 3 and thoroughly enjoyed it.
“St Mary’s Rye hosted Tongswood Chamber Choir, conducted by Martin Bruce, on the first Sunday in Advent, with an interesting and varied programme. A candlelit procession set the tone. The breadth of church music across Europe from the 16th to the 18th Century was illustrated with works by Tomàs Luis de Victoria, Philippe Verdelot and Hans Leo Hassler; Anton Bruckner’s ‘Virga Jesse’ was powerfully delivered, and Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Crown of Roses’ – perhaps the piece most familiar of all Advent music – was moving in its foretelling of the fate of Jesus, to be mocked and crowned with thorns. It is difficult to square the maturity of Britten’s ‘A Hymn to the Virgin’ with the fact that it was written when he was only sixteen years old, but its delicacy, beautifully illustrated this evening, was well portrayed.
“The choir also performed Kenneth Leighton’s version of ‘Lully, Lulla’ which deserves to be better known, Howell’s ‘A Spotless Rose’ and Martin Bruce’s own composition ‘O Oriens’ – and the audience was cajoled into providing the chorus to the happy ‘Christmas Cheer’, handling the canon with aplomb, and enjoyed singing ‘Lo’ He comes with clouds descending’. Martin provided two organ interludes, the second being the rather jolly tenth of the 17th Century composer Louis-Claude Daquin’s twelve ‘Noels’.
“The choir has a wonderful balance of voices and the concert was much appreciated by the audience. A member of the choir spoke movingly about the humanitarian problems in Ukraine, and a retiring collection was held in aid of Medical Life Lines Ukraine, which is organising ambulances and medical supplies for that war-torn country and has so far provided thirty-three vehicles.”
Natasha Robinson was part of the audience and commented: “The unqualified enthusiasm and passion that Martin shares with his audience is matched in equal measure by his talent and the deep knowledge of his subject matter. He encourages participation, both mental and physical, as he explains his choices and the composers who’ve brought them to life. The evening becomes a conversation between Martin, the choir and you.”
Image Credits: Shelly Jebb , Shelley Jebb .
I really enjoyed this concert, not the first that I have heard sung by this talented group. Just a couple of observations: I know times are hard, but the church was pretty cold, which was uncomfortable for the audience and cannot have been much fun for the singers. When I have been to concerts in other churches someone (normally the vicar) has been on hand to welcome the group and to thank them afterwards. Nothing at St.Mary’s although it was good to see the Mayor in attendance.. Money was being raised here for a really good cause so it was a pity that there wasn’t a better turn-out.