THE Harrogate Festival Choral Course culminates in an grand concert at Ampleforth College annually in August, when singers from Yorkshire and across the country gather to spend a week singing, rehearsing and performing a major choral work.
The Harrogate Festival Orchestra, led by Tim Meredith, which is made up of players also from across the region, comes together solely for this occasion, the whole ensemble being conducted by Thom Meredith
A very exciting element in this event has been the introduction of new music. This year it was the Northern premiere of Paul Carr’s Seven Last Words from the Cross, which has been included in the Classic FM Playlist and Air for Strings regularly featured on Smooth Classics with Margherita Taylor.
Ampleforth Abbey is a lofty, echoing space, proving an ideal venue for this kind of music. It was also comfortably warm, which is not always easy to achieve in large ecclesiastical buildings. However, a cushion is advisable.
The concert opened with Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore K.339.
The choral singing of this wonderful music was a glorious performance, the Choir having an excellent balance of voices, including an outstanding quartet of soloists: Sarah Ogden, soprano; Kathryn Woodruff, alto; Christopher Pulleyn, tenor; and Paul Gibson, baritone.
Ogden has a soprano voice of brilliant tone and clarity, with excellent diction, though diction can sometimes be a problem in such a huge space.
The second half of the programme consisted of Seven Last Words from the Cross. This was unusually beautiful music creating unique combinations of sound, in which the chorus was supported by a group of four violins, two cellos, a double bass, organ and percussion.
Memorably sensitive effects were achieved by bells and chimes punctuating the music and Paul Gibson’s magnificent baritone carried the seven words strongly through the choir and instruments.
This beautiful, deeply moving composition, was superbly orchestrated and performed with passion and power. It was a privilege to hear it for the first time here in the North, and to acknowledge the talent of the composer, Paul Carr, who was invited to come to the platform and take a bow, to rapturous applause.
Details of how to apply for HFCC 2016 will be available from October on hfccourse.co.uk.
Irene MacDonald
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