RESOUND & REBELLES: BEAT THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

If Resound and Rebelles’ showing at the World AIDS Day concert was anything to go by then their own seasonal offering was going to be good. It certainly was! Both choirs, now under the musical direction of Sam Barton are not only ambitious but accomplished. Their choices stretch not only them but also the experience of their audiences and as a music lover that is exactly what I enjoy.

Singing as two separate choirs they excelled once again but when they join together there is a power behind their sound which is suitably joyous for the festive season.

In the first half particularly enjoyable were Non Nobis Nomine and Visions of Gideon, both of which are quite extraordinary. Resound are not afraid either of singing things that clearly put them outside their comfort zone and in tongue twisting foreign languages too, Icelandic for one.

Rebelles delivered a fine slice of Gershwin and achieved that silky Hollywood sound that few can manage. And neither of these fine choirs are afraid of delivering humour, and they do it with style. They also demonstrated using the acoustic of a given space to add dimension to their programme, dividing the voices around St Paul’s or in one piece gradually drifting away from their platform to the far end of the church, and this worked so well.

Their programme choices were well balanced, a sprinkling of Christmas cheer but not cloyingly so and perhaps one of my favourite moments the beautiful Balulalow from Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony Of Carols. In recent concerts piano accompaniment has been from the excellent Howard Beach and on this occasion he was joined on double bass by Francesca Urquhart and on percussion Tom Hyatt, again adding to the overall fullness of sound that these first class ensembles have proved again and again that they can achieve.

(One small sadness, in a concert with a title that suggests The Bleak Midwinter where was my favourite carol?)

Andrew Kay

9 December

St Paul’s Brighton

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