Aylesbury Choral Society inspire with 'fantastic' Haydn The Creation performance

Spring has sprung, daffodils and bluebells are exuding the first sprinkling of colour that we’ve seen for months, and daylight in the morning and evenings lift the mood like nothing else. Or does it? Because on Saturday 1st April, the Aylesbury Choral Society gave the big orange ball in the sky a pretty good run for its money.

Blessed with what could have been the warmest evening of the year so far, a packed St Mary’s Church in the centre of Aylesbury’s old town received the treat of Haydn’s The Creation, a 225 year old oratorio that’s as fresh as an apple tree bloom. And that’s appropriate, because The Creation is all about, well the creation, of the world. “Let there be light” the choir sang, and indeed there was! Fans of Handel will recognise the inspiration which so obviously had a profound effect on Haydn whilst creating this masterpiece, and that is by no means a bad thing. Quite the opposite if fact, the flowing, up-tempo music of The Creation is an absolute joy to hear. Now at this point I must declare a vested interest; as a Yorkshireman, choral music is very much in the blood, but trust me, if you’ve never heard the Aylesbury Choral Society before, or any choral music come to that, this would have been a fantastic evening to start.

Whilst it may have taken a few bars for the choir to find its feet, and a few bars more for the orchestra, this light and easy-going piece soon found its way and from my seat in the middle of the magnificent thirteenth century chancel the scene that unfolded before me was as charming as a cricket match on a village green. And what better place to hear The Creation than within the stone arches of a house of God.

Conductor and musical director Jeff Stewart kept both orchestra and choir with precision, while the soloists provided the panache and zeal which only soloists can. By the interval, the atmosphere was one of jubilance, and that was a reflection of the magnificent coming together of great music, choir, orchestra, soloists and conductor.

In a sign that the choir is in touch with modern audiences, it was a neat innovation to feature a QR code in the program so that the audience could follow the piece on their mobile phone.

Though the night belonged to Aylesbury Choral Society, currently in its ninety-first year, special mention must go to the soloists, Jennifer Savage-Clark (soprano), Rhodri Jones (tenor) and the brilliant, richly voiced Simon Thorpe (baritone) who were absolutely superb and between them took the professionalism of the evening to the next level.

Aylesbury Choral Society’s rendition of The Creation arrived just at the right time, as we emerge from the darkness of winter into the light of spring. A perfect start to a warmer, lighter and happier period. If you’re ready to confine the doom and gloom of the last few years to the rubbish bin of history and get out and about again, you could do a lot worse than being an audience member of the next ACS concert on Saturday June 17th. Better still, why not help keep the tradition of choral music alive and join the choir?