Christmas music, St Mary's Church, Richmond
RICHMONDSHIRE Choral Society and Richmondshire Orchestra provided a jubilant festival of Christmas music in St Mary's Church.
With support from the organist Andrew T D Christer, they gave a lively production of J S Bach's Sleepers Awake and F Schubert's Mass in G, with soloists Charlotte North (soprano), Edward Rimmer (tenor) and Andrew Randall (baritone).
The piece de resistance of the evening was the first public outing of local musician Mark Harrison's cantata Jubilate Natale.
The voices of the audience had been stimulated by singing carols with the choir and they were engagingly taught two choruses by conductor Edward Seymour so they could join in two movements.
The cantata was a joyous experience, with the moods of different movements ranging from a spooky introduction through tender, lyrical and stirring passages.
The audience joined in the choruses of the later movements, ending with an exhilarating high to send everyone home full of festive spirit after a most enjoyable evening.
Judith Stansfield
