Ramsbottom Choral Society & Orchestra

A Celebration of Joy.

The Diamond Jubilee Concert, held in March, at Greenmount United Reformed Church proved a huge success for all who took part and the audience experienced a night of music making to enrich the soul.

The angelic quality of the sound as soloists and chorus alternate is difficult to put into words but the purity of the human voice was truly demonstrated when Jill Taylor sang “In tutina” from Carmina by Carl Orff. Maurice Rushby too sang with commitment in his rich bass voice which made us think that the passion of the religious feelings in the music makes it worthy of its subject.

The programme was most ambitious embracing Music from the Great Oratorios almost as if to whet the appetite. So much so that no one will forget “How lovely are thy dwellings” from Brahms’ Requiem or the pieces from Faure’s Requiem. The Andantino Ladies too entranced the listener with “Lift thine eyes” from Mendelssohn’s Elijah and the orchestra accompanied the soloists with sensitivity as did Judith Mitchell on the organ.

The singers and orchestra play with minimal forces but as always they demonstrated the strength of character in their musicianship to produce a sound worthy of professional standards.

Thanks to Barry and Patricia, the leader of the orchestra, and everyone who took part on this special occasion, we were reminded that choir and orchestra are a living force in Ramsbottom.
 
Apollo.

This was the 4th concert between these two groups which has become an annual fixture due to the quality and variety of musical sounds they produce.
 
Apart from their own sections in the concert they combined for 4 items played/sung together. The shared pieces were Cole Porter’s “Night and Day“, the traditional folk song “Blow away the morning dew“, “The way you look tonight” by Jerome Kern and “Goodnight Sweetheart“. The last mentioned was an excellent finale with its prominent bass line clearly relished by all the participants.

Tooti Flooti played pieces by Gilbert and Sullivan, Delibes and Irving Berlin in their 1st section. David Greenhalgh played a piece by Claude Bolling called Sentimentale. Their 2nd section started with a piece by Ricky Lombardo called “Una Siesta Canciones, Folk Loricas and finished with a “Spanish Love Song” by A.P.Pearce and “A Touch of Irish” by P.R.Birkby. All these pieces were beautifully produced and amusingly introduced by David Bailey. The first two in the 2nd section were particularly enjoyable, showing off good music with excellent playing and creating authentic atmosphere.

As is their wont madrigals formed a mainstay of Andantino’s contribution. On this occasion Orlando Gibbons “The Silver Swan”, Thomas Morley’s “April is in my mistress face” and Thomas Weelkes “Sing we at pleasure” were the items selected. After an introduction by the Director, Barry Sugden, which played heavily on the difficulties of the last mentioned, everyone, including the singers, feared the worst. In fact it turned out to be one of the best performances of the evening with Andantino making light of those difficulties.

The ladies of the group entertained us hugely with Little Polly Flinders - a spoof in the style of Mozart by Michael Diack. The 1st half also included Duke Ellington’s “I’m beginning to see the light”, Bob Chilcot’s arrangement of Steal Away, Deep Purple and two Lloyd Webber songs from Joseph - “One More Angel in Heaven” and “Close every Door”. Maurice Rushby, a regular soloist with the Choral Society and a new addition to Andantino’s ranks, sang Jerome Kern’s version of “Old Man River” with power and feeling.

The second half supplied in addition to some of the above “Panis Angelicus” by Cesar Franck, “Autumn Leaves” and “Londonderry Air”. The last of those is often a hackneyed bore but this arrangement - another by Bob Chilcot - gave a totally different feel and was very moving. Brian Milligan was the soloist in “You are my heart’s desire” by Lehar displaying much expression in his rendition.

M.H.

The church was packed for this popular seasonal event, one of the highlights was ‘In the Bleak Mid Winter’ in the setting by Harold Darke with a solo from a young member of the church and a tenor solo by Brian Milligan.

Soloists: Sarah Ogden (Soprano), Sue Morretta (Alto), Chris Dodd (Tenor)
  Maurice Rushby (Bass)

An appreciative audience enjoyed this tuneful but rarely performed work by Dvořák.

There was a capacity audience for this summer concert which featured Songs from the Shows and other popular choral and orchestral favourites including Salad days and Les Miserables, and a wonderful performance of Lark Ascending (Vaughan Williams) by the leader of the orchestra Pat Butterworth.

Soloists: Maria Rushworth (Soprano) & Paul Gibson (Bass)

A large audience enjoyed the Spring concert, when the society were joined by the Choir of St. Gabriels R.C. High School who provided some beautiful singing in the recently composed Mass of the Children. Paul Gibson was able to interrupt his busy schedule with Opera North and delivered some fine solos in the Fauré and Rutter pieces.