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Young voices warm the heart

SANDY SCOTT
11 Dec 2007
Edinburgh Evening News
Edinburgh Youth Choir ****
Morningside Parish Church

IN the literal sense, Morningside Parish Church provided a welcome haven of warmth on what was probably the coldest night we have experienced so far this winter, and a warm atmosphere of friendliness was also to be felt among the enthusiastic supporters of the young performers. The church is spacious, but a fair-sized audience turned out to savour this early taste of Christmas.

Edinburgh Youth Choir is the junior section of Edinburgh Royal Choral Union. Formed some seven years ago, it obviously provides a most valuable training ground for the 16-21 age group.

Dominic Peckham was recently appointed as its musical director. His choice of repertoire is interesting, varied and challenging. These qualities apart, it includes elements of contemporary and pop music. Joanna Stewart is the choir's accompanist.

There was audience participation in four well-known Christmas hymns. Once in Royal David's City provided the familiar processional opening for this sort of event. O Come All Ye Faithful included three welcome additional verses that are not usually sung in church. Both it and the concluding Hark! The Herald Angels Sing ended rousingly with their familiar descants (written by David Willcocks). Morley Whitehead presided at the organ to add stature to the joyful noise.

The choir took off with a lively and well-articulated rendering of Joy to the World. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree by Elizabeth Poston then demonstrated that 20th century harmonies hold no fears for these participants. It began with a firm, confident solo - of which there were many more to come. This opening sequence ended with the setting of Away in a Manger by Reginald Jacques.

The performance was interspersed with two readings. The first was Bethlehem Down by Richard Blunt and the other A Hymn on the Nativity of my Saviour by Ben Johnson.

An extended group of choral pieces formed the central part of the concert. The sound was finely varied by including items for a quartet, an octet, upper voices and lower voices. The quartet ambitiously chose JS Bach's harmonisation of O Little One Sweet, and they coped remarkably well with the fluid intricacy of the great German composer's harmonies. The Sussex Carol was given a lively run-through that was obviously relished by one and all. A Peckham arrangement of God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen is built on a series of straightforward musical devices - including a repeated rhythmic cell and a verse in canon.

Standing Lowly, also arranged by Peckham, contains three episodes of speech, supported throughout with vocalisation in which long notes have to be sung in relays so as to achieve continuity of sound. Snippets of Once in Royal David's City form musical interludes between the spoken text episodes. Although arguably a little long-winded, this item was greeted with a hush that bore out how clearly its message had come over to the listeners.

Damian Peckham's A New King in Town had all the trimmings - finger snapping, jazzy swagger and a variety of head, hand and arm actions. It brought the curtain down with a flourish.