Classical and opera: New dawn breaks to sound of big drums

Published on Tuesday 29 September 2009 20:47

FOR the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union (ERCU), misfortune has turned in its favour. Like so many other users of the Usher Hall over the past few years, the 100-strong choir has had its plans thwarted time and again as successive deadlines to finish the refurbishment programme failed to be met.

For the ERCU, it meant that its 150th anniversary concert, planned for last October, simply couldn't happen on the ambitious scale envisaged. The original intention was to combine the forces of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (its regular partner), the Edinburgh Youth Choir and the Belfast City Chorus in a mega-performance of Berlioz's massive Te Deum.

But that was a non-starter in the chorus's temporary venue at St Cuthbert's Church. So the big birthday bash was scaled down to parish church proportions.

Add to the loss of spectacle that of its annual money-spinning New Year Messiah, an event that usually fills the Usher Hall, effectively bankrolls the rest of the season and allows the chorus to perform the giants of the repertoire with full orchestra and decent guest soloists. Two New Years without that were bound to put a squeeze on programming options once things returned to normal.

But even then, when it came to replanning the original idea, now scheduled as part of the "extended anniversary season", the BBC SSO wasn't available, nor was Christopher Bell's Belfast choir, so a new party plan had to be drawn up.

The result can be seen this weekend, and while it may not bear the same blockbuster proportions as the Berlioz, it certainly scores tops on creativeness and originality.

At the core of Saturday's programme is Shadow Aspect, a new work by the British composer Judith Bingham based on words by Robert Louis Stevenson and scored for the modest ensemble of chorus, junior chorus, baritone, organ and timpani.

"When we realised that cost might be a factor, we deliberately went out to find a composer who could write something special for all our available resources, but with organ as the basis for accompaniment," says Michael Bawtree, the chorus's musical director for the past four years.

"We put an advert out as far afield as we could, asking for submissions with the stipulation that the words might be – but didn't necessarily have to be – based on Robert Louis Stevenson. Twenty-five composers came back to us, submitting previous pieces they had written for choir. We narrowed the field down to five, so that our patron, Martyn Brabbins, and the organist, John Kitchen, could make the final choice.

"Judith's ideas caught our eye, not least her surprising proposal to use five timpani along with the organ."

For the 25-minute work, Bingham takes a variety of Stevenson's texts – ranging from the spookiest of the children's poems to his printed thoughts on dreams and fear of the dark – and weaves them into a cantata structure that features solo episodes for organ, timpani and baritone. Those solos are performed on Saturday by Edinburgh city organist John Kitchen, RSAMD percussion student Philip Hague and the baritone Julian Tovey.

A glance at the score confirms a dramatic progression from dark to light, fed by the sinister Mahler-like heart-beats of the timpani, the initial low organ registers and the replacement of traditional expression markings with written quotations of Stevenson's descriptions of the Scottish weather. "Somehow, looming over these ideas, is the city of Edinburgh, with its Old and New Town, its hidden subterranean passages and its dramatic weather that RLS liked to write about," writes Bingham in her programme note.

Bawtree, who will conduct the premiere, is delighted with the new work. "The main chorus sections act like pillars, while the kids' parts are challenging but manageable. Judith took time to come and visit the choir and get to know the members personally. As a result, it fits the bill perfectly," he says.

So, by a strange coincidence, does its partner work in Saturday's celebratory programme.

"It never really struck me till recently that Mendelssohn's Symphony No 2, Lobgesang, follows the same progression from darkness into light," Bawtree admits. It's a work that rarely sees the light of day, so it adds another fresh layer to the ERCU's birthday cake.

For that, the choir will be joined by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, which also opens the concert with Mendelssohn's more familiar Hebrides Overture.

This may not be the epic extravaganza the ERCU initially envisaged to celebrate the illustrious history of a chorus originally set up as Edinburgh's proud answer to the famous Glasgow Choral Union. But don't let size become the issue. The programme that circumstances have forced on it smacks of creative ingenuity and good taste. That's something to celebrate in itself.

• The Edinburgh Royal Choral Union premieres Judith Bingham's Shadow Aspect at the Usher Hall on Saturday at 7:30pm. Box office: 0131-228 1155

CRITIC'S CHOICE

RSNO: Arabian Nights

Aberdeen Music Hall, 1 October; Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 2 October; Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 3 October

The RSNO returns to the Usher. Stphane Denve conducts music by Oliver Knussen, Mozart and Rimsky-Korsakov, with the star pianist Lars Vogt.

&149 Tel: [phone] (Aberdeen); 0131-228 1155 (Edinburgh); 0141-353 8000 (Glasgow)