POLYPHONY CRAWL – BREMF Consort of Voices, James Elias (Director)

A sombre cloud hung over this exquisite concert – not from the unexpected heavy rain which didn’t seem to deter the audience, but the recent death of the choir’s founder, the irrepressible Deborah Roberts. She had passed on to worthy James Elias a polished and confident choir but I reckon they were singing better than ever this morning in homage to her.

Clear-voiced tenors sang the first phrase of the Kyrie from the wonderfully elaborate Missa Pange Lingua composed by the Franco-Flemish master Josquin des Pres in 1515. Sounds from the height of the Renaissance, beautifully realised, were brought to life magically by these eighteen performers.

There followed three Tudor masterpieces: In manus tuas, last words from the cross, to the sublime setting by Thomas Tallis, spiked with those sensuous false relations that demand such accurate pitch from the singers; William Byrd’s Easter Acclamation Haec dies, so light and joyous, that ends with a jubilant Alleluia; and the richly sonorous Ave Maria by Robert Parsons. It was in this gentle work that I most heard the presence of Deborah as the various combinations of parts responded so sensitively to each other.

The programme concluded with two Roman motets. Palestrina was considered the master of the high Renaissance in Rome. The psalm Cicut cervus, Like as the hart desireth the water brook, has elegant running phrases that BREMF CofV made to ripple. The motet for All Saints Day, O quam gloriosum est by the Spanish master, Tomás Luis da Vittoria, who flourished in Rome, made a triumphal finale for this gem of a concert – except at Holy Cross, Woodingdean. Here, in the last venue, the choir indulged in an encore, Byrd’s Ave Verum Corpus, the best known of all the works that they sang. Effortless, except for the brave tenor who was sight-reading lower parts because the bass line was depleted by illness, this gentle prayer summed up the whole concert perfectly.

BREMF Consort of Voices

BREMF CofV may have lost their prime mover, but they have not lost her erudition nor musical standards and are clearly in very safe musical hands with James Elias as they continue their exploration of this enchanting repertoire.

St Paul’s Church, Holy Cross Church,
21 September 2024

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