50th anniversary

"Many concert-goers clamouring for tickets were disappointed - the Pump Room concert was a sell-out."
© Gloucestershire Echo (Nov 2007)

In 2007 we celebrated 50 years of Charlton Kings Choral Society and its contribution to music making in Cheltenham with two special concerts to mark the occasion.

In May we performed Elgar's masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius in Cheltenham Town Hall, conducted by John Wright, with James Gilchrist as Gerontius, Serena Kay as the Angel, Derek Welton as the Priest and the Angel of the Agony and The Regency Sinfonia. We were joined by members of Philomusica as the semichorus. This performance coincided with the 150th anniversary of Elgar's birth, and also 40 years of Philomusica.

Elgar's great oratorio, to a text by Cardinal Newman, was completed in 1900 for the Birmingham Festival and established him (along with The Apostles and The Kingdom) as a leading English composer of oratorio. Elgar was born in Broadheath (near Worcester) into the Roman Catholic faith, and Gerontius represents the most ardent affirmation of his beliefs.

conductor and soloists at The Dream of Gerontius

If our first concert essentially marked anniversaries, then the second, performed in Pittville Pump Room in November, celebrated the contemporary with two works of recent years: Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace and John Rutter’s Requiem. The popularity of both works can be gauged by the fact that the concert was sold out by the afternoon of the performance.

The Armed Man (by the composer of Adiemus) was commissioned for the Millennium by the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. It is a powerful and compelling account of the descent into, and terrible consequences of war. Set within the framework of the Christian Mass, it combines sacred and secular texts. John Rutter’s Requiem (1985) has become established as a classic in the choral repertoire and is a fine example of the composer’s gift for writing accessible music with memorable melodies and skilful orchestration.

"The opening chorus, in French, built up a crescendo of strong dramatic sound ended abruptly in perfect synchronisation."
"Clear words, tuning and uniform unaccompanied plainsong dominated movement four while dramatic loud hosannas rang out boldly in the Sanctus."
© Gloucestershire Echo (Nov 2007)

The concert was conducted by John Wright and the soloists were Tanya Cooling (soprano), Karen Longmate (alto), Ralph Barnes (tenor), John Qualtrough (bass) and Ismail Ginwalla (muezzin). Both works were performed in their chamber orchestra version by the Regency Sinfonia Chamber Ensemble.

"The choir, under conductor John Wright, deserved the prolonged applause that greeted the close of this successful anniversary concert."
© Gloucestershire Echo (Nov 2007)

To mark the conclusion of the celebratory year, our conductor John Wright also composed a new carol Christmas Bells, a setting of the poem by Hendry Wadsworth Longfellow, which we performed at our traditional Carol Concert at St Mary's Church, Charlton Kings.