Mozart Requiem and Bach Magnificat

21 June 2025

A Midsummer Night Concert

After a hot day, there was an air of anticipation in the blessedly cool Cathedral. Not a ticket was left, and the Nave and Side aisles were full. The programme promised us an invited orchestra of freelance players, gathered and led by Daphne Moody, and it was good to see some familiar local faces among them including Briony Moody (cello) and Peter Grove playing continuo. Four talented young soloists, Rebecca Hardwick (Soprano), Jessica Gillingwater (Mezzo-soprano), Michael Bell (Tenor) and James Geidt (Bass), already following interesting careers, were among the lineup, with conductor, John Challenger (escaping from the organ loft to direct). At the heart of it all was the SMS, singing two wonderful, complex works.

The choir rose to the demands of the scores with commitment and delight.  The orchestra might have been playing as a band for the first time, but it sounded as if it was an established group of players, responding with ease to John Challenger’s sensitive and urgent direction. The soloists made an impressive quartet, each one gracefully coming into their own as the evening progressed.

The director lived up to his name in the Mozart Requiem. After the measured start to the Introit, he set a challenging pace, and the singers and players joined in with gusto. This in turn gave the slower movements a significant gravity and depth. The dance-like rhythms in the music were personified by the conductor’s animated direction on the rostrum and some of the audience could not help but respond to the urge to move with the music. Some were following the score, many surely echoing the words and notes silently in their heads and others felt themselves irresistibly swaying. It’s hard to sit still and listen without becoming a part of the music when such lively encouragement dissolves the separation between musicians and audience.

The choir sang the ‘Dies Irae’ with terrifying relish and then came ‘Tuba Mirum’ with great playing from the brass section in the orchestra and of course the first chance to hear the quartet of singers.  ‘Rex Tremendae’ with its stately opening, followed by the beseeching ‘Salva Me,’ was sung with measured calm and touching clarity and was pitched perfectly. Now the ‘Recordare’ and the soloists singing together again. Their voices blended, each one effortlessly filling the Cathedral and floating above the audience, successfully daring the well-known echo to blur the effect. The echo did not win. A heartfelt movement.

On to ‘Confutatis Maledictis’, the choir portraying the contrasting depictions of the ‘cursed’ and the ‘blessed’ supported by the pulsing orchestral accompaniment. Next the lilting ‘Lacrimosa’ with its wonderful ‘louds and softs’ from choir and instruments, fantastic percussion and a great climax. If (as the programme notes suggest) this is truly the last music written by Mozart before he died, what a way to go!

The ‘Sanctus’ positively shimmered. Sussmayr plainly had Mozart’s measure.  Soloists again in the ’Benedictus’ – a chance to hear the quartet of young, clear voices – a mystical moment followed by the joyful Hosannas from the choir. Finally, the ‘Agnus Dei’, its troubling first bars softened with the comfort and hope of the ‘Dona Eis’. Rebecca’s gentle ‘Lux Aeterna’ was followed by the solemn conviction of the Choir and Orchestra’s final fugue leading to a ringing climax.

After the interval, the feeling of ‘Follow That!’ was soon satisfied by the first commanding notes of Bach’s Orchestral introduction to the Magnificat. As voices joined in, weaving their way through the explosions of string, wind, brass or percussion, the observation that Bach treated singers as if they too were instruments never had a more convincing example than this piece. Much was expected of the voices and the choir did not disappoint.

The soloists also shone. There were many appreciative comments from the audience afterwards about the quality of their singing in the various arias, quartets and duets. Each had the ability to reveal their individuality and musical skill while remaining true to the essential religious nature of the piece where the singer becomes a chorister sublimating personality in praise. Sympathetic playing from the various instruments providing continuo gave wonderful insights into Bach’s musical imagination – such lovely melodies. A highlight for me was the aria, ‘Esurientes’, from Jessica, the mezzo soprano, accompanied by flutes. A moment of otherworldly stillness.

This was followed by a trio ‘Suscepit’ (which I believe I have heard sung by three soloists in the past), but which in this case was sung very simply and effectively by the Sopranos and Altos of the choir. Fascinating to hear the tapestry of sound as the three musical lines wove an intriguing web of melodic complexity.

The final chorus, ‘Gloria’, combining all the forces at John Challenger’s disposal, was a fantastic display of musical skill, brilliance and joy. The audience responded with delight. Thank you for a magnificent evening, to Bach, to Mozart and to all the musicians who sang and played with such zest.

Vanessa Coryndon
Reviewer