St Mary's played host on Saturday 11th May to the Thame Choral Society for their spring concert. With a choir of 48, an orchestra of 26 (the Thame Sinfonia) and 4 soloists, this was a substantial event.
The church was full, the choir showed unconfined joy in their singing and the audience their delight in listening – an altogether pleasing occasion.
Top of the bill was Mozart's Requiem, a work of high emotion and drama, the shivers of the Day of Wrath quite undiminished in this unbelieving age. Before that we had a Mozart clarinet concerto, composed like the Requiem in the year of the composer's death, delivered with Mozartian grace and wit by clarinettist Steve Morgan.
And to launch the evening, three short choral works: Mozart's Ave Verum, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine and Elgar's Lux Aeterna. The latter, also known as Nimrod, a great choral climax.
The Thame Choral Society usually performs in Thame, but they are no strangers to Haddenham. All their rehearsals take place in our Methodist Church and many of their singers live in Haddenham.
The choir is directed by Helen Swift, with utter musicality and much laughter. For anyone who likes singing (they don't do auditions) the choir is a wonderful opportunity to get to know these soul-stirring works from the inside.
See the website here.
Andrew Gordon
