Reviews by pupils from The Royal High School, Edinburgh
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Creating an extremely full sound with almost immaculate control is the hardest task facing any choir but with the aid of conductor Mark Hindley the SCO made an excellent attempt.
The stand out Totus Tuus composed by Henrik Gorecki was stunning in its overall effect. Complemented by the SCO’s even tone and ability to create such a full sound a warm, rich atmosphere was radiated from the choir. Keeping control for the majority of this piece the choir emitted an excellent balance of tension and tranquillity. The ending complemented and contrasted the beginning section brilliantly as the choir mastered an awe-inspiring end, so smooth it was a shame it had to finish.
“Totus Tuus” was accompanied by the opening “Jesu Meine Freunde” and the final “Singet Dem Herrn” both by Bach. Both pieces again emitted a strong and consistent sound, at some points completely masking their accompaniment. Although I did sometimes feel it was unclimatic the choir handled all changes of tone excellently, aiding the pieces overall flow and movement.
SCO did an admirable job creating a brilliantly full sound and capturing the ear of all in the audience.
Katrina Statham
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The Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus performance of the Choral Splendour was a good concert. The choices of music were well rehearsed and all the singers looked like they were enjoying their performance. Bach Motet: Jesu meine Freude was particularly interesting. The choir’s interpretation of the piece was flowing and the choir looked like they really felt for what they were singing.
However, Górecki Totus Tuus I felt was rather repetitive and dragged out. The choir produced a nice, full sound but the beginning of the piece is rather sudden. Personally, I preferred the middle of the piece and the choir had a nice balance of voices.
Bach Motet: Singet dem Herrn was rather jumpy but was calmer in the middle of the piece. I couldn’t always understand the words that the choir was saying but they did have very precise endings to their words due to good eye contact with the conductor.
Julia Fyfe
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The Scottish Chamber Orchestra concert at St Cuthbert’s church was an enjoyable and pleasant evening. The ‘Choral Splendour’ was indeed a splendour, although I was a bit apprehensive as beforehand. The choir sang three songs accompanied by an organ, starting off with Bach’s ‘Jesu meine Freude,’ followed by Gorecki’s ‘Totus Tuus’ and finished with the jolly Bach ‘Singet dem Herrn’.
I was pleasantly surprised by the richness and fullness of the music. The venue was an excellent choice because of the great acoustics and the religious words of the songs matched the image of the church. The choir which had the full range of voices seemed to light up the church and suck you into the music. The organist, Stuart Hope was not the main focus of the music but he was pivotal in making sure the beat kept going. The atmosphere was a bit dry at the start but the audience all had a great appreciation for the music. The conductor Mark Hindley was the vital part of the group because he kept the choir together when once or twice a section got ahead and he seemed to have a great passion for the music he was working with. All in all it was a worthwhile and enjoyable evening.
Ross Winter
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The Scottish chamber orchestra chorus succeeded triumphantly at last night’s concert at St Cuthbert’s parish church, in Conveying the music of Bach, widely regarded as the “Father of music”. The chorus’s performance consisted of two Bach Motets, as well as “Totus Tuus” by Polish composer Henrik Gorecki, and Conductor Mark Hindley allowed the music to soar beautifully in both its happier and more mournful movements.
Jesu meine Freude, the first piece of Bach, was precise and kept together well, although at some points the volume was slightly over bearing, but all in all brilliantly showed off Bach’s beautiful style of music. The second Motet “Singet dem Herrn” was crisp, light and bright, and the sopranos in particular helped to show off the uplifting mood of this music, and the ending was brought together (by the tight yet flowing conducting) superbly. Henrik Gorecki’s Totus Tuus, although gentle and soothing, could at some points alternate between loud and soft too intensly. The piece was, however, incredibly sweet and tranquil overall. The Scottish chamber Orchestra chorus has managed to rise to the challenges of Bach and Gorecki beautifully.
Eleanor Morton
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The applaud for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus and conductor Mark Hindley set expectations high for the audience clapping enthusiastically which were both met and excelled. The first piece, Jesu meine Freude by much loved composer Bach, was performed exceptionally well: the dynamics and words were clear, accurate and the audience was silently entranced by the flowing movements of the piece...
Totus Tuus, by Gorecki, was a disappointing let down after such a promising start. The choir’s talent had been proven but was not displayed in this slow paced piece...several members sat holding up their heads as they waited in suspense for restoration of quality. There was also the constant repetition of “Maria” which seemed to be endlessly tormenting- there were so many it created a problem, rather than solving it.
“Singet Dem Herrn” again by Bach was a breath of fresh air: it made those hands-on-heads drop immediately as the choir clearly enjoyed to sing this piece and the audience took delight in the return of strong dynamics and accuracy in expression. The piece does drag in the middle, but the excellent quality keeps the audience enthused. The choir did choose several moments to sing a little too loudly and needed to remember they were in St Cuthbert’s, not St Paul’s.
Overall the performance was incredible, a definite five star performance. Despite...too-many-Maria’s in the second, the choir itself had a crystal clear sound making the performance, and choir, both enjoyable and memorable. The organ occasionally joined in unexpectedly several times but was welcomed by the audience, who showed their appreciation for the entire collaboration with an eruption of applause and stamping of feet at the end.
Ailsa Colquhoun
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The Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s performance captivated the audience as they performed some truly beautiful music. Their first piece, Bach’s Motet: Jesu meine Fruede was sung beautifully, contrasting the smoother movements in the piece, which were pleasant in their incredibly emotive moments, with the more powerful, upbeat movements. The contrasts between the usually pitch-perfect solos and the impact of the full choir, kept the audience fascinated. The held notes at the end of each movement created pleasant chords which resonated in the church, contributing to the amazing atmosphere. The choir also performed another of Bach’s Motets, Singet dem Hern. This piece began with an exciting opening, lively and powerful, which complimented the title, “Sing to the Lord.” This part of the piece was incredibly powerful and was quite busy with a sense of urgency, with barely any gaps. It became slightly too busy, but the conductor managed to keep control perfectly, with the choir following him explicitly. However, during the next movement, the piece began to drag as it was very slow. The relaxed atmosphere and light top notes saved the piece.
Sandwiched between the two motets was the wonderfully performed Gorecki’s Totus Tuum, started with a strong beginning, exciting the audience followed by a sweeter, softer, more emotive movement which was beautifully eerie and pitch perfect. All in all, a wonderfully sung concert, with an amazing atmosphere.
Caitlin Johnston
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This spine tingling and enchanting performance from The Scottish Chamber Orchestra certainly lived up to its billing of classical splendour. Perhaps more importantly, it did so whilst successfully holding the audience utterly spellbound. The double-bill of Bach motets, “Jesu meine Feude” and “Singet dem Herrn”, were delightfully spliced with the more contemporary work of Polish composer Henrik Górecki - the full and rich sound of each piece having more than a little of the spiritual about them. The setting could not have been more apt.There was something of the sombre grandeur of St Cuthbert’s that suited the performance perfectly. Whilst dominated by the Chorus it certainly did contribute to the sense of spirituality that wrapped each piece, an ambiance that the lighting could have perhaps been more sympathetic toward. Given the religious sentiment behind each piece (Górecki’s work celebrating the coronation of Pope John Paul II, whilst Bach’s work includes lines from Psalms 149 and 150) perhaps this should come as no surprise, however the exuberance and the passion of the Chorus was equally apparent. All three pieces had their distinct virtues, but the stunning opening of Górecki’s “Totus Tuus” certainly emphasised most of all his own sentiment that “art is a prayer”.
The intricacies and complex structure of “Jesu meine Feude” certainly allowed conductor Mark Hindley flaunt his own ability, the audience invited to lose themselves in the strength of the voices on show. The more buoyant opening and finale of “Singet dem Herrn” had a tempo even verging on a toe-tapper, ending by truly drawing the audience into what had been a powerful and evocative performance.
Daniel Kelly
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This was an excellent performance from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, book-ended by two Bach Motets (Jesu meine Freude and Singet dem Herrn) and broken up by a more modern offering from the Polish Henrik Górecki.
The incredible strength of this performance lies in its ability to turn the voice into an instrument as powerful and rousing as anything with strings or a reed, as well as showcasing the versatility of the vocal chords. These pieces are multi-textured, juxtaposing smooth, flowing sections spiky, insistent tones. The opening of Górecki’s Totus Tuus is stunning in its force and power, uplifting and startling, but the piece dies down into a soft, haunting lullaby. The two Bach Motets traverse all sorts of moods and tempos, the chorus pulling together impressively, a credit to Mark Hindley’s conduction. Admittedly, Singet dem Herrn does initially sound a little muddled, but it resolves itself into a piece that is just as beautiful as the first.
The backdrop for this performance was brilliant – the stone carvings and frescoes of St Cuthbert’s – although the garish lighting detracted slightly from the atmosphere. To dwell on such quibbles, however, would be to do a disservice to this obviously talented group of performers.
Barney Linforth
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