The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge

[maartendas]

Just got back from a Christmas concert by St. John's College Choir, dubbed by some the best choir from Cambridge. Only ten days ago their colleagues from King's left me having no more wishes for Christmas - but tonight was magnificent. They truly transported me to another world.

Highlights were a very modern Magnificat by Giles Swayne, with lots of staccato notes (like a pointillist painting) and swelling sound waves. The very high flurrying dots near the end made me want to jump for joy and the final Amen (a sustained treble solo) was so tender and spot on it touched me deeply.
The Guerrero Mass pieces set me in a wonderful prayerful mood.
The Magnificat by Pärt was also deeply moving, with forte chords that seemed to spill out God's mercy and restrained verses with bass and treble soloists weaving an invisible line with their sound. The final soft chord was like a wave receding from the beach.
Tavener's The Lamb was stretched to a slow tempo with ample room for the silent pauses, causing this wee gem to turn into something warm and wide and 'wooly bright'.
The candles in the gold chandeliers and the arches in the church (the Stevenskerk in Nijmegen) added to the enchanting atmosphere, especially during I Am The Day by Jonathan Dove - a panorama of shifting patterns.
Other wonderful pieces included my favourite arrangement of Silent Night, with glowing Alleluias weaving through the second verse, and the caressing sounds of Chilcott's Shepherd Carol.

If you get a chance to hear this choir live, do. I was told their director Andrew Nethsingha will leave Cambridge for New York - he will leave some big shoes to fill.

[maartendas]

If you get a chance to hear this choir live, do. I was told their director Andrew Nethsingha will leave Cambridge for New York - he will leave some big shoes to fill.

Turns out this was just a rumour and not confirmed. All the more chance to still listen to St. John's under his direction (which is an interesting sight by itself, watching him use flowing and often minimal gestures for conducting).

[Yorkie]

Just got back from a Christmas concert by St. John's College Choir, dubbed by some the best choir from Cambridge.

That would be me Glad you enjoyed them.

I assume the rumour about Andrew leaving them was for him to fill the job as Musical Director at St Thomas Church because (the excellent) Daniel Hyde is leaving there next year to take over from Stephen Cleobury at King's. My understanding is that St Thomas have appointed Jeremy Filsell to take up the role of MD so I very much hope that Mr Nethsingha will remain at St John's for many years to come because my chances of hearing his choir in Cambridge are significantly better than hearing it in New York!

Interesting article about Daniel Hyde's view on the two choirs

[maartendas]

Thanks for the info and the article, Yorkie. I can definitely relate to Mr. Hyde's views on the difference between the two choirs. St. John's to me always seems more full-bodied, fiery, energetic than King's - whereas King's has that polished, pure, smooth 'angel' sound.
As for the instrument boys have, I was listening to different versions of A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten this week and compared a recording by King's under David Willcocks to one by the Westminster Cathedral Choir under David Hill. The Westminster version sounded much more "physical" than the polished, perfected King's sound. King's sounds more angelic, Westminster is much more of the earth, with a sense of the choristers' boyish energy shining through.
Not sure which interpretation I prefer, I guess it depends on the mood. But I'm looking forward to the colours Mr. Hyde will be painting with

[Surpinto]

Very nice, Maarten. Sounds like it was a great concert.

[filiarheni]

So on Friday I experienced what I very much had longed and hoped for: a full concert with St. John's College Choir from Cambridge. I knew them from evensong in Cambridge and, of course, CDs.
I certainly did not intend to write a review whatsoever, but I just have to leave a few notes - as it was just such a fantastic concert night! The concert venue was the Stevenskerk in Nijmegen in the Netherlands and they sang:

The Shepherd's Carol (Chilcott)
Quem vidistis pastores (Poulenc)
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen (Distler)
I am the Day (Dove)
- Organ Solo: Prelude and Fugue in G major, BWV 541, Bach -
The Angel Gabriel arr. Pettman)
The Annunciation (Harvey)
Bogoroóditse Dyévo (Pärt)
A Spotless Rose (Howells)
Magnificat (Swayne)

Magnificat (Pärt)
Rorate coeli (Guerrero)
From Missa "O quam gloriosum"
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
- Organ Solo: Prelude, Fugue and Chaconne, Buxtehude -
Silent Night (arr. Ledger)
Hodie Christus natus est (Poulenc)
The Lamb (Tavener)
O come, all ye faithful (arr. Willcocks) - with audience

Encores:
O magnum mysterium (Poulenc)
Jingle Bells (Men only)


Just judging the sound, all was brilliant, but my highlights in all regards were "The Sheperd's Carol", "The Annunciation", "Silent Night", Pärt's Magnificat, "The Lamb" and, most of all, the Magnificat by Swayne. It's a polyrhythmic, extremely demanding piece, which had been unknown to me before and was absolutely amazing to listen to and to watch everyone so concentrated, and also fun, indeed. Such a difficult song, but everyone was completely on spot. At the end a tiny, but excellent solo - super high and very piano - by one of the boys, a magic ending to let us go into the interval. I think this Magnificat is more a piece to enjoy live, yet I wish I had a recording of that in exactly the way they did it yesterday. I'm still in awe!

Speaking of solos, that's general: All who sang a solo, boys and men, were superbe. All secure and in pitch, all sensitively embedding in the surrounding choir sound. And so we get to the next feature of this choir: They had a totally balanced, homogeneous sound. Transparent - extremely clear - brightly shining, but still with deep feeling - sophisticated dynamic spectrum. And a super-distinctive pronunciation of the consonants. The church, big and bright with a ceiling all of wood, fit them in an amazing way and it was heartwarming when, at the end, Andrew Nethsingha said that "this is one of our favourite churches in the world". And warm were also the men's voices, very beautiful and I loved their solos.

In "Silent Night", the third verse simply took my breath. It was enchanting all the time, but then the last verse was at least pianissimo, and how could I help getting goosebumps all over? Goosebumps happened anyway again and again, but this song ... It's sooo known a Christmas song, but there is still room for a new mesmerising interpretation.

"A Spotless Rose" had a dreamlike, wonderful bass solo.

Marvelous Magnificat by Pärt.

I like "The Lamb" very much, and they took it in a very touching slow and free tempo.

The last song, "O Come All Ye Faithful" was sung with the audience, and those who were conducted face to face were we the audience. That was fun and at the end he conducted us exactly on where to end the note. I hope he liked his new choir.

There was no standing ovation possible ... because the audience was already standing during the last song, but we got our chance after the encore and used it! Then they rewarded us with a second encore: A special arrangement of "Jingle Bells", normally a roll-eye song for me, was sung by the men alone, conducted by a member at their side, while Andrew Nethsingha was sitting on the steps with the boys, taking a deserved rest. They sang and acted, so much to laugh, and they seemed to have the same fun as the audience. A good way to finish a serious concert, because we could leave deeply moved as well as in a lively mood.

There were ca. 34 singers, half of them boys, half men. One of the boys reminded me of Libera's Alessandro, not for his outer appearance, but for the expression on his face and his movement when he sang. It was a joy to watch him. Another boy had a satisfied smile on his face all the time, while the others were serious.

I also enjoyed the atmosphere during the organ solos. Choir and audience were seated coming from four directions, so the first row was more or less like a circle (ok, a quadratic circle ), which created a wonderful feeling of togetherness. Anyway, I was very lucky: I had managed to secure a seat in the second row. The front row had reserved seats. But during the first half I practically did sit front row, as two people right before me were - how nice of them - missing (and the concert was sold out). After the interval, they arrived, but it was still fine, as I sat at the aisle.

Andrew Nethsingha's way of conducting was pleasantly unobtrusive. I had planned to watch him a bit, because this is interesting for me and towards the end of the concert I caught myself not having done so, due to my fascination by the choir ... I caught up with it for sure for the last songs. His movement are very low, but he and the choir understand each other perfectly. With a minimum of conducting they achieve a maximum of effectiveness.

I immensely enjoyed this concert!

They had three CDs with them for sale and that no-one asks me now how many went home with me.

P.S. During the interval I wrote some notes on the programme. After the concert, my neighbours, a Dutch couple, asked me if I'm involved in the choir.

[Surpinto]

Thank you so much for sharing your concert experience with us. St John's is an excellent choir and it is a real treat to hear them sing a concert or a service - as I did in Cambridge with a few other fans at evensong. It is because of Libera fans, like you and others, that I have been introduced to pieces of music and choirs I would have been unlikely to explore or discover on my own. In fact, I am sure that I am not alone. I have noticed that many in the Libera fan world are either schooled in various choral music or, through Libera and fellow fans, come to this appreciation and knowledge over time. Your description of the concert was most enjoyable and I hope that others who read your review would be curious and interested enough to see St John's in concert (or at a service in their chapel) should circumstances permit and the opportunity arise.

[maartendas]

filiarheni and I both attended the same concert and we were also able to witness the rehearsal in the church. It started with just director Andrew and the boys doing continuous vocal exercises. The men probably practised in a different part of the church by themselves and my guess is that the young man who led the men during Jingle Bells also acted as leader in the men's vocal exercises. The boys on their own sounded so pure and blended so wonderfully into one sound, reverberating through the wide space... Even mere vocal exercises were a joy to listen to. They looked quite dapper in their red blazers, too.

When the men (wearing casual, no uniform) joined the boys they went through the evening's repertoire, but most of what they rehearsed were only very short snippets of the songs, often no more than a handful of bars. filiarheni said it was like a teaser for the concert I think they rehearse in this way because they know the repertoire so well they only need to pay attention to certain specific parts to test out the sound in the church.
They did go over some longer parts, for instance The angel Gabriel and several fragments of both Magnificats.
When one of them made a mistake they would raise their hand to let Andrew know they were aware of it and there is no need to stop the singing to figure out what happened (a sign of their training and efficiency in rehearsing). A few times Andrew would walk a bit further back into the church to test the sounds from further away, for instance during the polyphony of the Guerrero Mass setting.

Apart from the concert itself, this witness of the rehearsal, seeing how they work on their craft, was quite a treat!

[Yorkie]

Hi all,

As we had two members attend what sounds like a great concert we thought it best to merge two threads into one. I hope I haven't messed things up too badly doing that.

To Maartendas and filiarheni, thank you for your lovely reports on what is my favourite (traditional) English choir, it sounds like they put on a good show for you. Their MD , Mr Nethsingha, is a really pleasant guy if you can manage to grab a word with him (not easy as everybody wants to talk to him).

What CD's did you buy Sabine? I assume the Advent one was there as that is their latest.

[filiarheni]

Thank you, Yorkie, for the merge, both you and Surpinto for your friendly words and Maarten, for reviewing the sound check rehearsal as well.

It is because of Libera fans, like you and others, that I have been introduced to pieces of music and choirs I would have been unlikely to explore or discover on my own. In fact, I am sure that I am not alone. I have noticed that many in the Libera fan world are either schooled in various choral music or, through Libera and fellow fans, come to this appreciation and knowledge over time.

You are certainly not alone and I couldn't agree more. The world of boys choirs in particular was a white territory for me before Libera, burdened with prejudices, although I liked children's choir, but boys choirs remained strange to me. Libera opened a door and they and other fans keep extending my knowledge - so huge that I sometimes get almost desperate about when to listen to all of those never-ending treasures, which is a happy feeling at the same time!

When the men (wearing casual, no uniform) joined the boys they went through the evening's repertoire, but most of what they rehearsed were only very short snippets of the songs, often no more than a handful of bars. filiarheni said it was like a teaser for the concert I think they rehearse in this way because they know the repertoire so well they only need to pay attention to certain specific parts to test out the sound in the church.

Yes, they tortured me with their snippet rehearsing over such a long time! Libera often sings full songs or at least a verse and the refrain during their sound checks, so it is almost like a mini-pre-concert, which increases my anticipation. But imagine to hear a few wonderful notes, you immediately start falling into the music and then it abruptly ends. It made me so avid for the concert to begin! However, witnessing such a concert preparement is very precious, as it allows an insight in how the musicians work. Even the tiniest vocal exercise to warm the voices up is interesting for someone who sings him-/herself, as different exercises have a different effect, and you may learn from them. Also, being present for a sound check, gives me a feeling of a more personal connection, because it is so"officially unofficial".

To Maartendas and filiarheni, thank you for your lovely reports on what is my favourite (traditional) English choir, it sounds like they put on a good show for you. [...]
What CD's did you buy Sabine? I assume the Advent one was there as that is their latest.

You were involved indeed by spreading your great preference for them, which increased my curiosity; nevertheless, though already biased then, I always see to remain critical and judge from my own ears and experience. Well, they passed gloriously!

I bought "Advent Live", "Christmas with St. John's" and Vaughan Williams's "Mass in G minor", but very sadly have not yet managed to listen. I tried to start listening on my way home by car, but it was impossible, as the music needs to be focused on. I'm hoping for tonight and Christmas.
(There is no review to expect from me, this to those who have hope for or fear of them. )

[Yorkie]

Is this the concert you saw?


http://concertgebouw.videodock.com/view/82

[filiarheni]

No, this was the Amsterdam concert on 16th December. We attended Nijmegen on the 21st, their last one of the Netherlands tour which included I think five concerts.

Thank you for posting. It's really nice to re-live the concert through it! And at the end, there even is that funny "Jingle Bells"; I only wish the camera had focused on the choir throughout the whole song. It missed some fun moments. Anyway, great they published this video.

[j8000]

I caught the Amsterdam livestream when it was live, but great to hear about the Stevenskerk concert as it seems they had quite a different program.

They are probably my favourite choir alongside that of New College Oxford, who perhaps put more emphasis on the abilities of each and every singer as a soloist.