SCHOLA CANTORUM

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 58, 6 September 1945, Page 4

SCHOLA CANTORUM

AN UNUSUAL PROGRAMME

The choral recital given in the Concert Chamber of the Tgwn Hall last night by the Schola Cantorum, under the conductorship of Mr. Stanley Oliver, contained some unusual music. Mr Oliver certainly broke away from orthodox works for such performances (though the programme was ,a happy combination ■of both modern and antique) and in so doins performed a useful service. . Much amusement was caused, W t "The Tunning of Elinor Rumming, the first movement, a "ballad, from "Five Tudor Portraits," by R. Vaugnan Williams, and the words by John Skelton, Poet Laureate and parson. The soloist was Molly • Atkinson, who very sympathetically, and with a restrained sense of humour, recited the adventures of Elinor in such quaint English that the audience had often recourse to the glossary provided pa the programme. Elinor, a ' tonnisli. gib," brewed "nappy ale," which she disposed of to "travelers, to tinkers, to sweaters, to swinkers, and all goodale drinkers." This item provided # an excellent opportunity for some rousing part singing, particularly on the part of the male choristers. Mrs. F. McDonald was at the second piano. The most outstanding work, however, was. the singing of eight numbers from Randall Thompson's "The Peaceable Kingdom," founded on the book- of the same title by Edward Hicks, a preaching Quaker in Pennsylvania, and replete with sonorous, majestic Biblical language. The performance, it is believed, was the first outside the American Continent. Dr. Thompson, a contemporary American, in the composition of these choruses, has provided an interesting sidelight into the folklore of his country. The programme opened with five movements from Arthur Bliss's "Pastoral." for .which the singers had the support of a flute obligato by Mr. Jack Harvie and Mr. Clement Howe at the piano. They included "The Shepherd's Holyday" from a poem by Ben Jonson; "A Hymn to Pan," the words by John -Fletcher; "The Naiad's Music," taken from Robert Nicholls's "Come, Ye Sorrowful"; "The Song of the Reapers," translated by Andrew Long; and "The Shepherd's Night Song," in which two poems were used, the first by Robert Nicholls and the second by Fletcher. The five numbers from "Songs of Springtime" by E. J. Moeran which followed were sung unaccompanied, the most interesting being "Spring, the Sweet Spring," from a poem by Thomas Nashe, in which the music ends in the mixolydian mode. The effect obtained by the choir in the various bird calls was most effective. "Good Wine," from, a poem by William Browne, another 17th century poet ("No Wife at Home to Send for Me") was as rousing as its title. Three items from Randall Thompson's "Americana." which, apparently, have been successful with American audiences, were inspired by contemporary American poems, and had all the flavour and colour of that nation. "Americana" revealed the fact that Americans had no hesitation in laughing at themselves. Though the mode was unusual to British audiences, the three selected were none the less interesting for that, particularly "Lovelli-Lines," a verse-poem "all abrim with joy," guaranteed to lift the reader to "heights of consciousness," and sold at one dollar. Mr. Oliver's singers revealed careful training. At times there was a tendency for the female voices (for they were in the majority), to predominate but. on the whole, the balance was well preserved. The recital was an interesting one culturally, notable for intelligent singing, and the unusual composition of its programme.