Egham and District Choral Society gave their Spring Concert on 31 March in St John's Church.
They performed the "Stabat Mater" by Dvorak, a rarely heard work unfamiliar alike to the musicians and most of the audience, but which on this showing deserves to be much more familiar. Dvorak finished the composition in 1877, having been moved to write it by the tragic deaths in the previous year of his two young children. It became Dvorak's most famous choral work, consolidating his reputation abroad, but it has been long and unbelievably neglected.
Desolate minor keys dominate the first four sections of the work, evoking the sharing in the Mother`s grief for her crucified son. The mood slowly lightens to show the glory of Paradise, through the full revelation of the medieval sequence on which it is based.
The EDCS performance was conducted by Lionel Pike, with soloists Christine Brown (soprano), Vanessa Smith (contralto), Christopher Moore (tenor), and Lawrence Wallington (bass-baritone). Once again, they gave us a memorable evening, with strong performances from all the soloists and from an increasingly confident and adventurous choir. The singers were most ably supported by the Kew Sinfonia led by Gudrun Edwards.
The Choral Society are still keen to welcome new members. They rehearse at the United Church in Egham on Monday evenings from 7.30 to 9.30.
Their next concert will be at TASIS School in Thorpe on Saturday 16 June at 7 p.m, and the audience are invited to picnic on the lawns afterwards. We are told that the music is summery and distinctively English.
(Our thanks to Margaret Roberts for supplying this review.)