Royal Dunedin Male Choir
St Paul’s Cathedral
Sunday, May 31
Sunday afternoon in St Paul’s Cathedral was a time of celebration and reflection for the Royal Dunedin Male Choir.
Their 406th concert acknowledged past history of 140 years of existence, with the repertoire chosen from programme archives, giving the first year of performance in the programme handout.
Current musical director John Buchanan and accompanist Linda Folland are both retiring and Folland’s long service of 33 years was acknowledged.
The Southern Youth Choir, also directed by Buchanan, entered the venue with an upbeat South African folk song Siyahamba. Next was How Do You Keep the Music Playing? featuring choral harmony and soloist soprano Eva Stein, and a rousing part-song arrangement of a traditional spiritual Witness. The choir returned with Soldiers’ Chorus from Faust (1896), a well-balanced Softly, As I Leave You (1996) and Parry’s famous Jerusalem (1937) with organ accompaniment.
After an interval the male choir returned with On the Road to Mandalay (1952) showing strong tenor timbre, a Thomas Tallis madrigal If Ye Love Me (1972) which lacked accent and drifted a little, and Wagner’s popular Pilgrims’ Chorus from Tannhauser (1912).
Southern Youth Choir’s chamber choir contributed three numbers: The Blue Bird with soloist soprano Ameera Woods, conducted by Ewen Clarke Wallace, a quartet A Hymn to the Virgin and a strong rendition of Britten’s Jubilate with organ accompaniment.
The male choir’s final bracket was a barber-shop style Go Tell It on the Mountain (1989), an arrangement of We’ll Gather Lilacs (1961) and Sir Arthur Sullivan’s famous The Lost Chord, which was sung in a 1902 concert.
It was interesting to read past performance dates, noting many items still retain their popularity. Well done the Royal Dunedin Male Choir.
