Delightful evening of English songs delivered by gifted musicians

LOCAL professional musicians Pamela Chilvers and Harriet Kirk delighted a large audience at St Mary’s Church on Saturday with a selection of English songs.

Harriet’s rich golden voice resonated wonderfully around the church building.

In the first half, she performed works by some of Britain’s best-known song composers, Vaughan Williams, Gurney, Britten and Quilter.

With her beautiful voice and “English rose” looks, she was the ideal soloist for the occasion.

Singing words by Wordsworth, Shakespeare and Tennyson, Harriet used her mezzo-soprano range to great effect, with full voice soaring and perfect control of the quieter sotto voce notes. Her singing was expressive, allowing the audience to feel the emotion of the songs.

Pamela’s piano accompaniment was characteristically delightful, complementing Harriet’s voice so well and reflecting the mood of each song.

There was the gently lilting Down by the Salley Gardens (Britten) and the ferocious high winds (and contrasting eye-of-the-storm calm) of Who Has Seen The Wind, one of Pamela’s own compositions to words by Christina Rossetti. A memorable moment was the rather humorous staccato ending to Gurney’s Under the Greenwood Tree, which drew a chuckle from the audience.

The second half featured songs from the current century, described by the presenter Anne Eustace as “atmospheric and exciting”.

Composed by Pamela using words by Rossetti, Roethke, Blake and Dickinson, each song lived up to expectations.

Pamela is a master of capturing emotions in music and Eternity (words by William Blake) is no exception.

The piano introduction made me think of floating into the clouds; if eternity is beyond the clouds, this song describes the journey.

Harriet brought all Pamela’s songs to life with the rich liquidity of her voice.

To finish, the Caversham pair premiered a group of evocative “seasonal” songs composed by Anne, who is from Hurst.

The mischievous nymph of spring, the fickle season of summer (was it describing the 2023 summer?), the trickster of autumn and the dramatic (but evil) winter queen.

The audience was then treated to a beautiful love song by Anne, Stealing the Moon.

Before studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and becoming a professional singer, Harriet took piano and singing lessons from Pamela. She now works with Grange Park Opera and Opera Holland Park.

An experienced piano performer and composer, Pamela recently wrote piano compositions based on the wines of Ronchi di Cialla in northern Italy and performed some of them in Tolmezzo earlier this year. She studied piano with Dame Fanny Waterman in Leeds before graduating from the Royal Academy of Music.

All proceeds from the concert are going to the Chiltern Centre in Henley, which empowers young people with disabilities to have fun, make friends, learn, grow and develop while providing their families with the break they need to recharge and reset.

Susan Cantwell