Bach and Handel with the Musical and Amicable Society Review
Bach and Handel are the ‘giants’ of Baroque composition. Under the direction of Simon Harper,
Cantores Chamber Choir and the Musical and Amicable Society orchestra combined to ensure that justice was done to these celebrated composers.
We enjoyed Bach’s well-known Magnificat in the first half, followed by a spirited performance of his Brandenburg Concerto number 4. The second half was given over to Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, both written to celebrate the end of the War of Spanish Succession in 1713.
The acoustic in St John the Baptist is superb. It is a frequent and popular venue for Cantores. Even at the very back of the packed church the individual lines were clear without the ‘delay’ which can
often prompt conductors to slow speeds.
As a genuine chamber choir, Cantores is ideally suited to reproduce the vocal forces that Bach had available when writing his Magnificat. These experienced amateur singers comfortably split into eight parts where necessary with the sopranos otherwise taking two lines for most of the evening.
A quartet of professional singers took the fore in solo sections and each offered a confident and
secure interpretation. The tenor, James Beddoe, was particularly convincing, bringing his operatic
insight to sacred texts which are sometimes too familiar to lift off the page.
The whole concert was given one semitone lower than modern pitch. This better reflects the sound world at the time of composition. This warmer sound was most obvious in the Magnificat where we are so familiar with the modern tuning.
Cantores’ ability to attract professional soloists and orchestras of true quality is consistently
impressive. Any local lovers of English choral music should follow their schedules.
Their next concert is an Advent programme in St Peter’s Church, Northleach and I, for one, will be there.
Doug Watt