RSNO Chorus A Cappella

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall New Auditorium - 26/03/23 

Stephen Doughty, conductor

The 600-seat New Auditorium of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall was the venue on the afternoon of 26th March for a varied programme of a cappella singing, performed by the RSNO Chorus and conducted by their new Chorus Director, Stephen Doughty.  Comprising just over 100 singers, the choir is visually impressive, even before a note is sung.  The performance was very well attended. 

Edward Bairstow’s anthem ‘Let all mortal flesh keep silence’, with its glorious Brahmsian harmonies, opened the programme and immediately showcased an impressive dynamic range with power and precision – the very opposite of silence.  Solos were delivered by tenor Andrew Clifford and bass Ian Mackay. 

Following an explanation of how the music of Giovanni Gabrieli and his followers exploited the acoustic properties of galleried Renaissance architecture in their compositions, Stephen led the singers in Heinrich Schütz’ s joyful psalm setting ‘Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied’.  Imitative of brass ensemble music with canonical elements, the music is bright and cheerful.  Not for the first time, I marvelled at the surprisingly good acoustic of the (very non-Renaissance and barnlike) New Auditorium – I am not a fan of the Main Auditorium at the GRCH, which regularly thwarts the efforts of the best conductors at achieving uniformity of dynamic balance. 

Three of the Five Spirituals which feature in Sir Michael Tippett’s anti-fascist oratorio ‘A Child of Our Time’ were performed next, in the a cappella version.  While their pacifist persuasive significance and power are best appreciated in context, they are moving nonetheless.  ‘Steal away’ featured solos by soprano Jennifer Imrie and tenor Alex Rankine.  ‘Go down, Moses’, often called ‘Let my people go’, featured solos by soprano Charlotte McKechnie and bass Ken Allen.  The closing spiritual of the oratorio, ‘Deep River’, features a quartet of soloists in ornamentation of the well-known melody, all of whom were truly excellent: soprano Kotryna Starkutė, alto Ruth Townsend, tenor David Miller and bass Stephen Penman. 

Ever since singing the bass part in his ‘Salve Regina’, I retain a soft spot for the music of Liechtensteiner by birth (but Bavarian by residence) Josef Rheinberger, with its happy combination of Brahmsian romanticism with Brucknerian religious sensibilities.  His 6-movement Mass in E flat was performed next.  Not all of it is top-drawer Rheinberger, but the Kyrie, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei most definitely are.  Liturgically, the Sanctus should emulate the choirs of angels, and with Rheinberger it does.  The aching supplicatory harmonies of the Agnus Dei were delicious, while the arching melodic line used ascending key changes to endow phrases like “Dona nobis pacem’ with fresh significance, before descending to an exquisite final cadence.  Scrumptious. 

Pioneering composer of electronic and electroacoustic music, Janet Beat, now in her 80s, wrote the choral hymn on text from Isaiah, ‘Bow Thine Ear, O Lord’ in 2021.  Atmospheric and engaging in performance, it was very warmly received, and the composer, who was present in the auditorium, rose to acknowledge the applause. 

Lithuanian composer Vytautas Miškinis’ 8-part ‘Dum medium silentium’, fusing ancient Gregorian chant with Lithuanian folk music influences, was equally atmospheric and featured polymetric and polyrhythmic lines, slowly declamatory on words like ‘domine’ coincident with fast on words like ‘omnipotens’, gelling to homophony.  Tonal, approachable and immensely satisfying, it was also very well received. 

In 2011, the Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan was commissioned by the late queen to write a piece for her funeral.  The 8-part motet ‘Who shall separate us?’, with biblical text from Romans, was the result, which of course then waited 11 years for its first performance.  Having both sung in and conducted his motet ‘O Radiant Dawn!’, I love MacMillan’s choral music and know what a joy it is to perform.  The RSNO Chorus clearly feel the same and gave it the utmost advocacy.  Lovely morendo ending. 

The performance closed with Sarah Quartel’s choral arrangement of 19th-century American Baptist minister’s hymn, ‘How can I keep from singing?’.  Its folk tune-like melody, not dissimilar from that of the spiritual, ‘Steal Away’, heard earlier in the programme, starts on soprano solo, beautifully rendered by Ruby Ginoris, then taken up by the choir over a tripping accompaniment on lower voices.  Another verse has the tune over slow-moving chording.  Simple but magical.  The coda let the tripping rhythm descend to a final cadence. 

In summary, this was an imaginatively constructed programme which showcased the excellence of a well-trained ensemble in repertoire that did not lack variety, but with a strong emphasis on big sound.  If I might be permitted a wee ‘druther’ (and only if that is a permissible singular of ‘druthers’), I would love to also hear the ensemble in some piano and pianissimo music.  Therein lies a different magic.