Levens Choir, St Thomas’s Church, Kendal

IAN Jones selected a very varied programme for Levens Choir's concert at Kendal’s St Thomas’s Church. The first piece was the exciting but short Daemon Irrepit Callidus by Gyorgy Orban, a Hungarian composer who, at times, displayed influences of Kodaly and Seiber.

We were then treated to the first of two soprano soloists - Emily Robinson - who sang Vivaldi’s motet In Furore. Emily’s delivery is confident and her voice is agile, but also sensitive and lyrical when required. The second soloist Kate Noble sang Bist du bei mir by Stolzel. She has a certain presence on stage, and her performance was excellent.

In between these pieces the choir performed Agnus Dei by Samuel Barber, an unaccompanied arrangement by the composer himself of his Adagio for Strings. The basses had a sonorous quality whilst the sopranos were extended somewhat at the top of their register.

The two sopranos sang Laudamus Te from Vivaldi’s Gloria. The voices complemented each other in the interplay. The orchestra, lead by Roland Fudge, undertook their role admirably throughout the evening.

The first half concluded with Scottish composer James MacMillan’s setting of a Missa Brevis. The tenors produced a lovely tone in the opening introduction. The rhythmic writing was performed to good effect and there was a rousing ‘Amen’ to end the Gloria.

The second half was devoted entirely to Handel’s setting of Psalm 110 Dixit Dominus. There was a fresh tone in the opening section with a well-sustained soprano line. In one of the middle sections - Dominus a dextris tuis - there was unnecessary movement of voices imported from the choir ranks, which were a distraction to the listener. During the final section Gloria Patri, the early contrapuntal singing lacked the clarity of the later fugal parts.

Thank you to all of the performers for an excellent evening’s music making.

ROBERT TALBOT