Carols at The Lee Old ChurchBy Diana Morley/McVeagh
Christmas came to The Lee Old Church on Sunday 6th December 2009 with a beautifully designed and performed programme by the David Ireson Friends.
These eight singers, drawn largely from the St Albans Cathedral Choir, are perfectly tuned and balanced, able to produce a joyous solid forte in their final chorale ‘Glory to God’ and an exquisitely hushed piano for Holst’s ‘In the bleak midwinter’ – the final verse (‘What should I give Him’) will linger long in my memory.
Their selection of carols was unhackneyed, drawn mostly from collections and arrangements by David Willcocks and John Rutter; and how good to hear ‘The Truth from above’, gathered by Vaughan Williams from a Herefordshire folksinger in 1908.
In between the carols came refreshingly funny and subversive readings, including the twelve days of Christmas seen through the reactions of the poor wretched recipient – what to do with all those destructive birds!
The Friends delighted us by their communication: their relish for words, their thoughtful sensitivity to the sense and sound of what they sang, their engagement with each other and their audience.
This was professional singing, nuanced and intimate, expertly matched to our candlelit small church.
One regret? That we their audience were allowed to join them in only one verse of ‘Oh little town of Bethlehem’.
We could have sung with them all night. But mulled wine and mince pies awaited them and the attentive villagers who packed the church. It was a privilege to be there.