thinGS THAT MATTER
“One needs only four things for a joyful life – something worthwhile to do, someone to love, some ways to serve others, and something to hope for.” (Anonymous)
Love, joy and hope came together on Sunday, June 3, at St. Matthias Church.
Every so often one is lucky to share in an event that brings pure joy – a coming together of people, place, presence and pleasure that is unique and unforgettable. That happened with the performance two weeks ago of the Cecilian Chorale’s “Evening of Light Music: Songs of Love, Joy and Hope”. It was a magnificent programme and a flawless performance.
So what is the Cecilian Chorale? St. Cecilia was a Roman martyr of the second century, who was made the patron saint of musicians, ostensibly because she was forced to marry in spite of wishing to remain a virgin and at her wedding “She sang in her heart to the Lord”. (To be clear – it was not the forced marriage that made her a martyr, but her death by the sword!) Throughout the ages her name and her story have inspired many musicians, much literature and many choirs, and it was a natural choice for the name of the Cecilian Singers of Barbados, founded by Doris Provencale. They gave their first full length concert at the Ursuline Hall in December 1971, and continued to thrill Barbadians with their annual Christmas concerts. Doris was an inspiring teacher and she composed a Christmas carol “Bajan Carol” – an eternal favourite.
The Cecilian Chorale is the progeny of the Cecilian Singers, because it was conceptualised in 2006 when a small group of Doris Provençal’s friends, students and former Cecilian Singers were preparing for her anniversary dinner party. Keith Yarde, a long-standing member, suggested that they continue singing and he became the first conductor. There are still about ten of the first Cecilians in the Chorale, and Rosemary Lynch, one of the young original singers, is the president.
The conductor/choral director for the past 18 months, for the Christmas 2017 concert and the June concert, is a former soprano member – Leslie Hull. Leslie is originally from St. Vincent and trained on a Commonwealth Scholarship to New Zealand as well as in St. Vincent and Barbados. I understand that her enthusiasm and skilled approach has successfully re-vitalised and energised everyone and that most of this June programme came from her direction. Her virtuoso conducting held everyone spellbound throughout the concert – I could have watched her and listened all night! The Cecilian Chorale is proud and lucky to have her as director.
Several things made the concert an unforgettable success. The interweaving themes of Love, Joy and Hope flowed beautifully and the selection of songs to express the themes was both thrilling and varied. It was described as an evening of light music, and included a cautious and careful selection from the classical masters (Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from his 9th Symphony, Mozart’s Glorious is thy Name, and Handel’s Entrance of the Queen of Sheba – played by the Barbados String Quartet). However, the meat of the sandwich comprised an assortment of really popular favourites. First, Songs of Joy: When the choir launched into that great romantic favourite Elizabethan Serenade, with the timeless words: “All the while her wonder grows, As that music comes and goes,” there was a palpable sense of awe and exhilaration as the audience were caught up in the joyful magic of the music.
Songs of Love were superb. We had the Barbados String Quartet, playing The Rose; Keren Hall & Christopher Paulius were playfully romantic with Perhaps Love; a male chorus “brought the house down” with Some Enchanted Evening and this was followed by another golden oldie, Bridge over Troubled Water.
George Gershwin’s Summertime, from Porgy and Bess, is one of the most recorded songs and music of all time. And as it’s a story of Charleston, South Carolina, my favourite American city, it had special poignancy for me. It was movingly rendered by a quartet comprising Ann Forde, Barbara Chase, Jimmy Alexander and Stanley Alleyne – absolutely exquisite. This section on Love finished with Island in the Sun – the great combination of Irvin Burgie and Harry Belafonte – and here the audience were invited to sing along, which we did with feeling and great gusto!
The songs of Hope were spirituals, beginning with ‘You raise me up’ and ending with ‘When the Saints go Marching in’. What was so impressive was the energy, the spontaneity and the togetherness of each of these splendid songs. And that characterised the entire performance – the members of the choir were so together – inspired and joyful, with perfect timing every time, thanks to the beautiful precision of the conductor, who was such a joy to watch.
The Cecilians are a full vocal choir – soprano, alto, tenor and bass – of some 27 voices. They clearly have a wonderful repertoire, from sacred to secular pieces. I understand they rehearse for ten months of each year at the St. Barnabas Church – in a sense their home church.
While their Christmas concert has become a highlight of the Christmas season, this splendid Evening of Light Music must now mark a watershed for them – a new beginning, for a bigger, brighter future, setting a new standard of excellence for choral music in Barbados. An added, rich feature was the sharing by other musicians – The Barbados String Quartet, Jerome Clarke on the clarinet, Arleigh Cobham on the guitar, Liann Clarke on steel pan and drums, their own member Ricardo Niles on saxophone and their pianist Eric Cobham. Members regard the role of Leslie as crucial in melding and welding the choir so effectively together. I’m hoping that being inspired by this performance they will do another summer concert, perhaps in St. Mary’s or St. James Church. They would have a huge audience.
The point was made to me that churches are ideal for singing, and especially for the Cecilians, both because of the spiritual nature of much of their music but also because of the wonderful acoustics of most of our churches. St. Mary’s is perhaps the best of all, and as one of my friends in the Chorale said to me: “To hear a voice singing purely is truly a beautiful sound based on hard work, skill and dedication and then to blend these multiple voices to create harmony is truly returning God’s Talents to Him.”
Bouquet: To Dr Shelley Sandiford who, in the World Weightlifting Championships in Calgary, defended her old world record (352 lbs) in the Dead Lift competition and absconded with the Gold. With a personal best in the bench press, she won a Bronze in the overall standings. Her dead lift of 360 lbs is more than three times her body weight of 112 pounds – by far the best effort by a female athlete of her size and age (48) that the world has ever seen. No wonder she was called The Mighty Mouse in her school days! Congrats to this amazing daughter of our Diaspora, and to her proud parents Keith and Lorraine.
And to the new Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Wilfred Abrahams, for leading an aggressive approach to tackling the South Coast Sewage Crisis. As one expert said, more has been achieved in a couple of weeks than in the last couple of years.
Brickbat: To the spin doctors whose infelicities are being newly exposed almost every day. As the Attorney General and others have said publicly, justice must be done, as is happening across the world, from Brazil to South Korea, from Spain to Guatemala.
Professor Fraser is Past Dean of Medical Sciences, UWI and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Clinical Website: profhenryfraser.com