S'no good ...

Who could have forecast snow falling in November and December being the coldest for 100 years? Well, perhaps programming Howard Blake's The Snowman in our Michaelmas Concert - bringing on Christmas a little early, admittedly - might have tempted fate?
A 'Dear Diary' week, I cannot remember a more stressful time - having to postpone the Senior School Michaelmas Concert, create a new combined schools Christmas Concert, cancel our Demelza House Carol Service in the Cathedral, and postpone a day of Trinity Guildhall exams; and then came the nightmare of finding enough tickets for the Christmas Concert.
Needless to say, everything fell into place, and a week's respite from the snow allowed us to successfully stage the combined concert and the main school Carol Service in one week, without a hitch. Huge thanks to the team in the music department, those in the school office and, of course, the pupils for all they they did to pull this one off. Musically, these were fantastic events, showcasing the talent at St. Edmund's. Well done to all.

Sincere thanks to Mr Jon Dagley and Mrs Janet Mander for their reviews below.
A Merry Christmas to all. WMB

Carol Service

The end of term Festival of Lessons and Carols remains one of the high points of the school year – for this writer the most beautiful of all. Director William Bersey’s choice of music for this incomparable setting added to the specialness of the occasion. After Canon Christopher Irvine’s introduction, the School and visitors stood in the candle-lit darkness for the traditional opening solo of the processional hymn, ‘Once In Royal David’s City’, sung by a chorister. The children of Abingdon House provided a delightful tableau of the Nativity on the steps of the Quire before Father Roger Marsh, St Edmund’s School Chaplain, led the Bidding Prayer. Lessons were read by members of the school body, amongst whom, notably, were staff retiring during this year, Mrs Lesley Humphreys, the School Librarian and Mr Chris Barnard in his 37th year at St Edmund’s as well as by pupils, School Captain Rafi Stone, Megan Laverick Smith, the Vice Captain and, with fine intonation, Alexander Denton of the Upper Sixth.

The music itself was choice indeed. The Chapel Choir (Joel Whitewood as soloist), sang Rutter’s ‘There is a Flower’ (from Audelay’s 15th century original) and, with affirmative, intuitive delicacy, the transcendent words of the poet Crashaw ‘Welcome, all wonders in one sight!’ - set to music by Jonathan Dove There were masterly contributions from the Probationers and the Junior School Choir (respectively ‘The Hodie’ and ‘This Little Babe’ from Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols’) before the Chapel Choir returned with a wonderful rendering of the traditional Basque carol ‘O Bethlehem’ arranged by Elizabeth Poston, ‘Lux Arumque’ (Whitacre), Mathias’s ‘A babe is born’ and ‘On Christmas Day’ by Richard Rodney Bennett.

The great building filled with the sound of the singers, ably supported by the delicacy of the harp and majesty of the Organ. Between each piece, as the drawn out breath of the last note fell, there was a most exquisite, tiny silence before the next reading began. The Headmaster read the timeless words of St John unfolding the great mystery of the incarnation to a hushed cathedral. The moment then came for the magnificence of the final two hymns, ’O come all ye faithful’ and ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, accompanied by the Jubilate Brass, as once again a golden warmth rose to bathe the fan vaulting high above. The final voluntary from Dr David Flood, Cathedral Organist – Dubois’ Toccata in G – was a superb scintillation of sound ending an evening of glorious Christmas music.

J P Dagley


Christmas Concert

As one door closes, another opens... After the disappointment of having to cancel the Senior School’s Christmas concert last week because of the adverse weather conditions, the decision to merge it with the Junior School’s planned performance on Thursday 9th December proved to be a unique opportunity to showcase the full range of the combined schools’ musical talent, as well as to enjoy the music made by the Canterbury Choral Youth Choir and the East Kent Children’s Orchestra.

There was a rich seam of choral contributions, starting with the clear purity of the Junior School Boys’ Choir managing the traditional French carol Quittez Pasteurs, and followed by the beautifully tuned and toned Junior School Girls’ Choir giving the first performance of the night of Walking in the Air (both these directed by Peps Martin-Smith, and accompanied by George Inscoe). Senior School contributions came from the newly-formed Fifth Form Girls’ Choir, ranged around the grand piano and clearly enjoying the jazzy arrangements (and the pianistic embellishments from the director, Spencer Payne), and the Jazz Choir – progression to the full depths of tenor and bass voices! Their contributions were Cole Porter’s Miss Otis Regrets and Loesser’s Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat, with Matthew Barker in the spotlight as solo tenor.

A further choral element was provided by the Canterbury Choral Society Youth Choir, the junior branch of Canterbury Choral Society, directed by Will Bersey. They offered two carols, Holst’s A Babe is Born and Michael Head’s Little Road to Bethlehem, together with Electricity by John. They gave a stylish performance of great freshness and confidence that was enjoyed by all.

Christmas is very much a time for singing and carols, but the instrumentalists were not to be outdone by the singers, and around the vocal contributions was woven an arrangement by Iveson for brass ensemble of a medley of well-known tunes in the Carol Fantasy, performed by the Senior School Brass Ensemble and directed by Steve Wassell, a Big Band offering of Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Brick House stylishly delivered by the Big Band, and a full symphony orchestra performance of Mendelssohn’s War March of the Priests.

The first half of the concert closed with a performance from the East Kent Children’s Orchestra of a quality that belied the youthful years of its performers. This is an orchestra whose membership is open to talented players from both within and outside the school, which has very quickly gelled to make a magnificent, confident sound. They performed Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and the theme from Star Wars under Ian Swatman’s direction.

I hope none of the excellent performers above will take offence if I suggest that the pièce de résistance of the evening was its final item: a complete performance of Howard Blake’s The Snowman. The narrator, who stepped into the breach at short notice, was the excellent Mr Jon Dagley, who offered a sympathetic and nuanced reading. The Symphony Orchestra produced beautiful colours throughout, and created a real atmosphere. The audience then caught its breath as former Cathedral Chorister Cameron Walker rose to sing Walking in the Air. His voice, with both richness and clarity, simply shone. Altogether, this was a truly memorable event.

My thanks go to all those who invested enormous amounts of time and effort in preparation for this concert. It is a real tribute to the Music Department to see the sheer numbers of pupils who were involved as performers, and, in addition, to see just how much they enjoyed their involvement.

Mrs Mander