Dynamic skill of choir gave aural delight

What: Anon. Vocal Ensemble directed by Michael Leach. Fifth Anniversary Concert
Where: Cathedral of St Paul, Sunday
Reviewed by: Lindis Taylor

It seems to be the era of the chamber choir.

It seems to be the era of the chamber choir.

It was The Tudor Consort, founded by Simon Ravens in the mid 80's, that made the first profound impact on Wellington's music scene and his model has flourished, even if the crowds have stopped coming.

The standards of singing engendered by Ravens - and, it must be added, others like Robert Oliver at the time - have been maintained; one example - Anon., formed in 1996, first as a male choir, later adding females.

It must now be considered one of the most beguiling in Wellington.

Anon.'s programming is imaginative and quirky: it makes no secret of its style and repertoire being influenced by the Kings Singers which flourished in the 1970's and 80's.

That meant amusing, sentimental or salacious songs like A Groovy Kind Of Love, Billy Joel's And So It Goes, Lamorna or U2's MLK, in which the choir showed it had little to learn from their model.

The only music from the renaissance was its last item - an engaging and ear-catching song for male trio by Giovanni Domenico da Nola - and arrangements of folk songs like Greensleeves.

The rest was fairly modern: the choir sang beautifully a couple of pieces by Elgar whose small-scale choral music continues to surprise and charm.

Later, British composers dominated the rest of the programme.

The concert began with the Funeral Ikos by John Tavener.

The 16-strong choir set the scene by ranging themselves far away, beyond the choir stalls, and their carefully gauged sounds evoked an otherworldliness that fitted the religious and musical character of Tavener's inspiration (Tavener adopted the Orthodox faith and is deeply influenced by both Greek and Russian music and liturgies).

The aural effect was remarkable as the choir moved forward during its performance.

It ended the concert singing another Tavener piece - his setting of Blake's Tyger - from the same place, though it did not seem to call for or benefit from that placing to the same degree.

Patrick Hadley's I Sing Of A Maiden, Patrick Gower's Viri Gallilaei, William Mathias' Let The People Praise Thee, as well as folk songs like Barbara Allen and Shenandoah, all demonstrated the choir's care with dynamics, rhythmic subtleties and the blending of its voices.

The Springtime Of The Year - Sunday 2 September 2001, 8pm
(excerpts from the full review)

What:Sacred Heart Cathedral Centennial Festival of the Arts:
Where: Sacred Heart Cathedral, Hill Street, Wellington
Reviewed by: Lindis Taylor, The Evening Post

My first concert (at the Festival) was the small Wellington vocal group, Anon., in songs marking the arrival of Spring.

There was no lack of quality in the choice of pieces - six were originals or arrangements by Vaughan Williams and others were by Elgar.

The only real departure from the English part-song tradition was with David Hamilton's set of three individual, theatrical settings from Othello which the choir carried off with imagination.

It was pieces such as Elgar's As Torrents In Summer, Vaughan Williams' The Lover's Ghost with more uniform dynamic levels that were most successful.

Individual voices were to be remarked several times, particularly Christopher Leach and his fellow tenor Peter Dyne, while the strength of the female voices lay in their balance and homogeneity.

There were other folk song arrangements by Ward Swingle and arrangements of Lennon and McCartney songs.

Based on melodies that have stood the test of time, the choir invariably handled the arrangements with skill and subtlety.