The School Concert

The second meeting was delayed a day because of the C.C.F. The talk was given by T. E. H. Sabben-Clare on Guitar Music and was illustrated by excerpts from the Guitar records in the School Library.

The third meeting of the term was also delayed a day for the benefit of Cert. "A", Part II, candidates. At this meeting Field gave a talk on the Baroque Organ which was enhanced by two records of the same piece of Bach on two entirely different styles of organ, the Baroque and the Romantic.

The final meeting of the term, on 27th March, was a talk by B. G. Way on Strauss Tone-poems, which he illustrated by playing parts of Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegel by Richard Strauss.

The term has been a successful one, marked by a fine School concert and, thus encouraged, we look forward to the continuation of the Society's present policy.

R.A.F.

THE SCHOOL CONCERT "SAMSON" 6-30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 14th and 15th March, 1958, in Big Hall

Milton and Handel make a strong combination : they also match each other in their assured stride, firm, and heroic. Invention never seems to tire in either, even if the style remains obtrusive. It was a pleasure therefore to hear the words as well as the music, for, in the soloists especially, enunciation was good.

Rarely can the School have contained within its walls so many good soloists; indeed, such was the choice that two excellent tenors were rivals for the part of Samson : Mr. Oatley sang the part on Friday and Mr. Wall on Saturday. It was fascinating to compare their interpretation : Mr. Oatley lyrical, gentle and exquisitely modulated (it would be a pleasure to hear him sing to the accompaniment of a lute); Mr. Wall powerful, dramatic and thoroughly Samsonian—or perhaps Sam-sonic. It is a tribute to the music, as well as the singer, that Mr. Oatley's voice, less obviously suitable for Samson, was in fact the more moving in "Total Eclipse"—he conveyed the pathos compellingly : Mr. Wall's dramatic, even heroic, manner was brilliantly powerful, however, in the duet "Traitor to love". This duet, with the two trebles, P. Hunt and A. J. Neal, singing the part of Delilah, was one of the most satisfying things in the evening : the double part confused the ear at first and the pure treble quality when one expected lush soprano was a surprise, but these disadvantages were overcome by the singers' assurance and verve. The blend of treble and tenor in this exciting music was only equalled by the other duet, "Go, baffled coward, go", for bass and tenor voices. Here 35

again Mr. Oatley's light voice worked in pleasing contrast with the richer quality of Mr. Ockenden's voice (singing Harapha). It is a pleasure to hear Mr. Ockenden sing, and we shall look forward to more.

It is natural that recently broken voices should suffer a little beside trained and more mature ones, particularly in dramatic music of this type. B. Jones, appearing in public as a baritone for the first time, has a pleasant voice with some promise—but it is not yet in control. M. Precious was more finished as a performer and, though there seems less scope for advancement, his voice is already enjoyable to listen to : philistines in the audience just beat the Philistines in the chorus in their reaction to his terse recitative "What hideous noise is that ?".

Honourable mention should be made of the solo "May every hero fall like thee", sung by A. J. Neal and D. A. Turnbull—this was a good piece of singing—and especially of "Let the bright Seraphim", sung by a row of trebles. This is music that rings in the mind long after the concert is over

There remains the bass chorus, who sang "Honour and Arms" with suitable assurance, and the chorus as a whole. The chorus is, of course, the backbone of a work like "Samson" and, with Mr. Ockenden in the basses, and Mr. Wall in the tenors, entries were always accurate and assured : this assurance greatly increased the listener's enjoyment, for there was no fear of mistake. Needless to say, the trebles were most efficient—but we have come to assume that at St. Peter's. The whole chorus may be the background, but they had three resounding choruses to present : "Awake the trumpets' lofty sound"; "Fixed in His everlasting seat"; and the conclusion and climax, "Let their celestial concerts" in which with trumpets blaring, and orchestra and chorus at full, the audience thrilled to the marrow.

Although the orchestra was a little immature in some sections and, on Friday at least, lacked cohesion, it supported the singers well. Mr. Jorysz gave a commanding lead and one of the cellists says that the cellos were highly commendable. The audience was delighted by the little game of "Cox and Box" played by Anfield and B. Jones whenever Jones sang. The continuo never gave grounds for worry.

We thank Mr. Waine for organising, training, rehearsing, and conducting this concert, and above all for introducing us to a little known work which should be much better known.

It promises well for the future that the whole evening's performance was carried out by the staff and boys alone, and it is to be hoped that this will always be so. The names of those taking part are as follows.