Almost a hundred voices joined together in an exceptional rendering of Handel’s oratorio, ‘Messiah’. It was on the first day of April at St John’s church, Boxmoor, that Chipperfield Choral Society gave a musical treat to a church filled to capacity. The Society was founded 60 years ago in September 1946, and such a popular work was a wonderful choice to form part of the Diamond Jubilee season of concerts. For several months, members of the Society rehearsed under the direction of Delia Meehan, with Rosemary Venner as their piano accompanist, and the result of all that hard work was enjoyed by all who were fortunate to be there on the night.
The orchestra played beautifully and for the evening Delia had assembled four very fine young soloists. Following the Sinfonia, Gardar Thr Cortes sang the opening tenor recitative and arias, and Anna Huntley sang the alto parts with much feeling. The bass arias were sung by Alex Ashworth and a highlight was his rendering of ‘The trumpet shall sound’ which was accompanied by a fine solo trumpet. The soprano, Lucy Crowe, had a voice with such a range that every aria which she performed really sparkled and she added such a lot to the aria made so famous by the late Kathleen Ferrier, ‘I know that my redeemer liveth’.
For more than 2 hours Delia Meehan conducted a remarkable performance with the chorus in near perfect unison. By tradition the audience stood when the Hallelujah Chorus was sung with great feeling. Following the performance, Delia remarked that Handel wanted everyone to be uplifted by the ‘Messiah’ and it was just so for everyone who had the privilege to attend.
On the following evening, some members of the Choral Society joined with the choirs of St Paul’s Church and Holy Cross Church, Sarratt, in a performance at Chipperfield of the ‘Requiem’ by Faur
. Under the baton of Keith Beniston, the singing was extremely moving.
The next concert to be given by Chipperfield Choral Society will be on 17 June at St Paul’s Church when they will be performing ‘The Armed Man Suite’ by Karl Jenkins and ‘Songs and Cries of London Town’ by Bob Chilcott.                     Terry Simmonds