Singers never flinched at challenge of capturing intensity of pieces

Pangbourne Choral Society summer concert
Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel, Pangbourne College
Saturday, June 21

THIS concert marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe but it was different. The raw brutality of war was exposed, as was the delicate fragility of peace. The message was that mankind’s greatest achievements have occurred in peacetime, so the concert was entitled “Better is peace than always war”.

The concert opened with The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Karl Jenkins. This was a sombre reflection on the horrors of war with lyrics drawn from different cultures and religions. The choir had to withstand a furious bombardment from formidable brass-wind and percussion sections (amplified by the exceptional acoustics of the Falkland Islands Chapel) and stand firm as they opened with L’Homme Armé.

They injected drama into a selection of grim texts but then relented into the beautiful but also dramatic melodies and lyrics of the more familiar texts (Kyrie, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei) of the requiem mass.

The audience was clearly moved deeply, especially by the Hymn before Action and Charge! in which soldiers are lured to their doom, cut short by an eerie silence followed by The Last Post, beautifully played by one of the three military trumpeters performing.

Having finally been exposed to the horrors of Hiroshima with Angry Flames and Torches we moved to a reflective conclusion. The second half extended this reflection with the premiere of a work especially for this concert. Voice of a Generation drew lyrics from a poem by Lucy Hann, 14, from a local school and set to music by society member, Jacky White.

Full marks to Pangbourne Choral Society for an impressive performance of a brand-new work, never easy.

Bob Chilcott’s Five Days that Changed the World added some relief from the dramatic tension, reflecting on history-defining moments such as the invention of printing, the abolition of slavery, the discovery of penicillin — feats that could only be achieved in more peaceful times.

The conclusion was an arrangement by Sara Benbow herself entitled, appropriately enough, Peace at Last. Any review of such a content-rich concert must start by appreciating its production values.

The plaudits must go to music director Sara Benbow for designing the programme and enlisting the support of a talented soprano soloist (Robyn Pullen) plus brass, percussion, flute, cello and piano players who all threw themselves into such a titanic orchestral challenge for such a small but highly effective group.

And of course, the redoubtable choral society, who never flinched from the task of projecting such dramatic intensity, matched with technical accomplishment.

Peter Hayward