Messiah: Saviour and Recruiting Sergeant This is part of a letter from Charles Groves who couldn’t attend the Choirs’s AGM in June Bournemouth Symphony Chorus is celebrating score ditched by the Choir in favour of the 1956 because of a conducting engagement a 100 years of existence thanks to Handel’s “modern” edition by Ebenezer Prout, first in Newport. Messiah. The Choir has performed the work published in 1902, nine years before the birth on upwards of 140 occasions. In most of the Choir! seasons, only this work attracted sufficient demand at the Box Office to turn loss into profit To be fair, the next fifteen or so years saw 17.06.56 in the Choir’s annual accounts. The annual conservative Bournemouth moving from the performances, at Christmas, or early in the rearguard to the avant-garde in terms of New Year, became a tradition and one that has Handelian practice. It started with Charles been maintained until the present day. To Groves who introduced period practices those members who often asked for alternate before they became commonplace. Well does fare for Christmas, the committee, egged on the writer, then a member of St James Choir by its Hon. Treasurer answered, “Sorry, it’s in Pokesdown, Bournemouth, remember the Handel, or bust.” hot debates in quires and places where they sing over a rumour claiming that Charles Comfort Ye, My Treasurers Groves was going to scale down the orchestra, possibly reduce the Municipal "The two performance concerts were Elijah Choir’s numbers and was intending to play a and Messiah and it will be noted that 800 HARPSICHORD to accompany the more people attended the two Messiah recitatives! What would have been the performances. This, I think, represents the response had Charles Groves featured a relative popularity of the two works." counter-tenor, such as Yuri Mynenko who sang with the Symphony Chorus in the 21st Stanley Arthur (from his 1952 Annual century? Indeed, Messiah is nowadays Report as Honorary Secretary) almost invariably performed by the Chorus with a counter-tenor. The very few breaks have been caused not through choice but through external factors: the "I feel choral societies should display a bust of outbreak of war, for instance, or the sudden Mr. Handel placed in a favoured position in the closure of the Winter Gardens for urgent first row of tenors, in honour of their very maintenance at the start of 1965. existence: for how many amateur choral societies would have gone under but for the all-appealing masterpiece. Some of us must Charles Groves Performing styles in Handel have changed have heard it hundreds of times, and yet how remarkably over the last hundred years. Not fresh it is, and how we all love singing it." until 1940, and then with many grumbles, was the ancient Vincent Novello edition of the vocal Roy Henderson (in a letter to his Choir) The Choir was formed in an era of Messiah was the choir’s flexible friend. It monumental Messiahs - the more the merrier may be the only choir to have sung the was key to a successful performance. By oratorio in a cinema (Bournemouth’s Regent) 1900, the score had become part of Britain’s under Sir Malcolm Sargent with timpani heritage. Church choirs might essay one or and cinema organ for accompaniment. All two of its choruses, but to experience the that in 1930. Bournemouth has heard many “real thing” it was necessary to join a large variations on Handel’s original orchestration Choral Society. There was safety in from grand Victorian conflations to Mozart’s numbers. The Christmas Messiah was an version that Richard Stamp essayed in 1974. ideal time to join such a body. Some choruses would be in the chorister’s After World War II, the work became the bloodstream and (s)he could learn the rest Choir’s leading export. Invitations were under cover of many experienced voices on received to sing in Wimborne Minster and Pictured (clockwise from top left): Isobel Baillie, her or his part. So many new singers across Christchurch Priory. The Choir had been Norma Procter, Harold Williams, Parry Jones the country were recruited by the Messiah, invited to sing the work in East Cliff and, provided the hurdle of the voice test Congregational Church during 1916 and had front? Thereafter, Norma Procter, like was conquered, it offered a facile route into curtly declined as to do so was inconsistent Ferrier, a pupil of Roy Henderson became the the thrill and camaraderie of a big choir. with the “construction and procedure of the first choice. Amongst the tenor soloists who MUNICIPAL Choir”. Post World War II, the sang the work with distinction with the Isobel Baillie sang the soprano solos with mood had changed and this malleable work Municipal Choir during its first 50 years were the Bournemouth Choir as soon as she was taken and sung with soloists from the the Welshman, Parry Jones, and two returned from her vocal studies in Milan. Her choir on several occasions. Here are two distinguished Englishmen; Heddle Nash and autobiography was titled Never Sing Louder examples: Eric Greene. Than Lovely and through 45 years of visits to the South Coast, mainly but not entirely to Wimborne Minster February 1951 In his youth, the writer was fed on the ringing, sing in Messiah, she maintained an Soloists from choir: Ethel Fullerton dark as gravy, tones of Harvey Alan in the exquisitely pure tone without sacrificing clear (soprano); Muriel Pursey (contralto), Edgar bass solos. He was another pupil of Roy enunciation making arias, such as I Know Idle (son of Frank as the tenor); E I Jones Henderson. However, the most frequent That My Redeemer Liveth, unforgettable to (baritone) Organist: Norman Charlton- visitor to Bournemouth was the Australian, those who heard her. Burdon Harold Williams. He was admired for brilliant breath control and the clarity of his English Kathleen Ferrier reigned supreme in the Christchurch Priory February 1951 diction - once he’d extinguished his Aussie contralto arias for six performances during Soloists from choir: Ethel Fullerton accent! Harold was a cricket lover, both as the war years. Service people were (soprano); Muriel Pursey (contralto), Arthur a player in village matches and a spectator admitted at half price; could they have taken Rayner (tenor) & E I Jones (baritone) reputed never to have missed an England sweeter or more consoling, memories to the Geoffrey Tristram on organ (Hammond) versus Australia Test Match. POST CA RD from Howard Dalton First Bass Sir Charles Groves took what he had learned about The Choir’s first year of independence (1921- ADVICE (in a letter to the choir's performing Messiah with his Bournemouth Choir to choirs 22) was anchored by the twin Messiahs at AGM in 1943 from its conductor, across the world, as this excerpt from a letter to the Choir’s Christmas. This comes from the Chairman’s Roy Henderson) Secretary, Donald Sheppard demonstrates. Annual Report: There is one essential. In order 21.xii.82 LONDON NW1 9UV The Messiah Concert [sic] was a great to give itself freedom of success financially and never before have expression the choir must free the receipts reached such a high water mark, itself from its copies as far as and I think it was generally admitted the best possible. How about learning performance was given; this of course was at any rate the Messiah due to the Choir being massed together. choruses bit by bit so as to be ready? You will never regret it; By massed, the Chairman meant in close it will stand you in good stead order for the Choir had not returned to for many years. pre-World War I strength & balance (sopranos 70; contraltos 40; tenors 20; The message remains as basses 35) pertinent in 2012 Charles Groves BC: Before the Choir she organised an open rehearsal for the evening preceding two performances on Tuesday 28th April. Choral music started in Bournemouth with church had, itself, been sired by Dan Godfrey from The choir contained 100 voices and they were choirs. At key moments in their church’s year Madame Newling’s group. The Bournemouth joined by Carrie Silviter (soprano), Harold Wilde some of them formed festival choirs to sing larger Guardian reported that the performance of The (tenor) and Albert Garcia (bass) with May Peters in works, such as Gounod’s oratorio Redemption. Blessed Damozel was “capital” and that the voices the stentorian “Clara Butt” role. Dan Godfrey kept All this amateur singing of the choir the massed forces together during these activity laid the ground for the “blended well”. performances. Unfortunately, Easter 1903 was full formation of Bournemouth’s The audience of miserable weather so the audiences were small. first permanent giant group, w e r e The second half of the programme contained Madame Newling’s Choir, appreciative assorted “scenas” for the soli and partsongs brought together to present and recalled including Vineta (Brahms), The Long Day Closes a cantata by Dalhousie the soloists: (Sullivan) and Song of the Vikings. Young The Blessed Emily Squire, Damozel based on the poem Marion Dyke, The greatest builder of choirs and their audiences written by young Dante and Herr in Britain has been Handel’s Messiah. New recruits Gabriel Rossetti, the founder Robert flocked to rehearsals as soon as it became known of the Pre-Raphaelite Hensler, tenor, that Madame Newling was scheduling it at Brotherhood, who later “of Zurich”. Christmas, so that the Choir had doubled in strength illustrated this poem with a The cantata by the performance on December 8th.