Gospel Arts Concert

Conductor: John Mott
Let Everything Praise
Royal Albert Hall
Saturday 6th June

As a prelude to the concert the Household Troops Band under Major John Mott presented their customary programme on the steps by the Albert Memorial. 

Despite the threat of rain, which fortunately never materialised, the band attracted a large crowd for their attractive and varied selection. 

Amongst those listening were Bandmaster Richard Phillips and Lt Col Norman Bearcroft, who were invited to conduct the band in “Farandole” (Bizet) (taken at a blistering pace) and “Spirit of Endeavour” (Bearcroft) respectively. 

The band was in good form, and also treated the crowd to a first class exhibition of playing on the march, with the trombone section being particularly impressive.

Let Everything Praise

The concert itself used to be known as the Councils Festival, with the emphasis alternating between bands and songster brigades. In recent years the focus has broadened somewhat, and this year’s event included dance and drama, as well as a timbrel display. The title chosen was “Let Everything Praise”, with all the items chosen to fit in with that rather broad theme.

The evening commenced with the International Staff Band under Stephen Cobb presenting Martin Cordner’s piece of that name. Built around the tune “St Francis”, it included some fine soprano playing by Gary Fountain, and made good use of the contrast in tone colours between the various sections of the band. 

A whispered statement of the melody in the basses was especially telling, and the band showed great precision in the ascending scales towards the end.

After prayer had been offered by Lt Col Charles King, the International Staff Songsters sang “Day by day”, a setting by Australian Graeme Press of the words “As the varied way of life we journey”. It set the tone for their contributions throughout the evening, with flowing, sustained phrases, and a well-balanced sound.

American songstress

The sole overseas visitor this year was Carol Jaudes of the Montclair Citadel Corps, a noted singer and actress, and the husband of trumpeter extraordinaire Chris Jaudes. For her first item, she sang a song drawn from a musical based on the life of Samuel Logan Brengle, an American officer who contributed much to Holiness teaching within The Salvation Army. 

“My Army Cap” (Edward Hobgood, arr Stephen Bulla, trs Andrew Blyth) alludes to an incident when his cap was dislodged by a brick thrown by those aiming to disrupt the open air witness. 

The song itself is very much in the tradition of American musical theatre, and would not have been out of place in “The Music Man” or “Guys and Dolls”. 

Dressed in a black trouser suit trimmed in silver, Carol’s exuberant performance was matched by the accompaniments brought by the band and the staff songsters, with an effective coup de théâtre when the bandsmen and male singers donned their caps – apart from Gary Fountain, who was unable to reach his first time in the short rest allowed, and followed on behind!

Affable compère

The name of Charles King will be familiar to many from his contributions to Thought for the Day on BBC radio, and he was given the tricky task of piloting the evening through. Various methods have been tried over the years, from celebrity guest presenters to off-stage announcements, but the intention this year seemed to be to engender a relaxed, informal atmosphere, and on the whole he managed to get the balance about right as far as we were concerned.

Godspell

The musical “Godspell” may have caused a stir in 1970 with its relaxed presentation of the gospel, but it certainly struck a chord amidst the hippy culture of the day. Barrie Gott’s selection has been around for some time, but the opportunity was taken to present it as a massed item, incorporating band, chorus and the Croydon Citadel Dance Group. 

The dance group, whose members covered a fair age range, occupied the arena. Dressed in shiny silver wigs, white t-shirts and black trousers and belts, they made full use of the space available, whilst Andrew Blyth had vocalised the selection, using his massed voices very effectively, the most exposed, high passages being sung by the sopranos of the ISS. 

They also presented the opening “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”, and it was good to hear the words associated with the familiar melodies, including “All good gifts around us” and “Day by day”. The percussion section offered tasteful and varied support, including the effective use of a vibraslap, and Trevor Winch was excellent in the horn solo. 

The dancers’ choreography was well thought out, as they enhanced their movements with the use of white ribbons, and at the end unfurled a large floral cross in the centre of the arena.

Songs in contrast

The ISS brought two contrasting numbers, commencing with “Love Divine”, a setting by Howard Goodall of Charles Wesley’s familiar words which was somewhat unremarkable, although the use of a canon effect in the final verse brought added interest. This was followed by “Rock-a My Soul”, a lively spiritual arranged by Kirby Shaw. Sung unaccompanied, the performance was full of verve and enthusiasm, with a firm foundation provided by the bass section, and taking the somewhat irregular rhythmic patterns comfortably in their stride.

Youth to the fore

The Territorial Music School has taken place each summer for many years, but it was something of a leap of faith to invite the “A” band from last year’s school to reform especially for the occasion. Despite limited opportunity for rehearsal, they made impressive work of Stephen Ponsford’s “Turris Fortissima”, written for Enfield Band’s latest visit to the USA. 

The composer, whose “Cristus Redemptor “ is currently part of Cory’s concert repertoire, has the elusive ability to combine traditional melodies with contemporary worship songs without it sounding stilted. Several tunes appear, linked by reference to God being a strong tower, including “Blessed be the name of the Lord”, “My Jesus, my saviour” and “Ein Feste Burg”. 

There were very few moments of uncertainty in the playing, despite some intricate passages to negotiate, and under Stephen Cobb’s direction it was a thoroughly convincing rendition, with fine performances across the band.

Massed chorus

Introducing the next two items from the chorus, whose members came from all four nations of the United Kingdom, Charles King stated that “The Salvation Army does massed voices very well, especially at the Royal Albert Hall”. 

The chorus contributions did seem to work particularly well this year, with the difficulties of co-ordination and amplification having been overcome, and with all the accompanists placed where they could see the conductor clearly, avoiding the dodgy moments apparent in 2008. James Curnow’s setting of “He leadeth me” was followed by a new song by Andrew Blyth, with words by William Hastings, “Rock the world with freedom”. 

The words recognised the parlous state of the world, pointing to Jesus as the solution, and the vibrant music was enhanced by the bright sound of two trumpets and two trombones.

Dramatic presentation

Drama can be difficult to bring off in such a large venue as the Royal Albert Hall, but the use of available technology helps, particularly in terms of amplification and the use of the large screen. Evangeline Booth, one of the daughters of the Salvation Army’s Founders, William and Catherine, was a strong personality who went on to command The Salvation Army in the USA before serving as General from 1934 to 1939. 

Carol Jaudes’ presentation “The world’s greatest romance” considered some aspects of this larger than life personality, including, quite topically in the light of current political developments, her fight to be accepted as a preacher in her own right, and her efforts to help those in need – no mere window dressing here! 

Holding the audience spellbound from start to finish, she concluded her performance with Evangeline Booth’s own song “The World for God”.

There will be God

“Sinfonietta: The Dawning” (Peter Graham) was written for the 1985 “Return to England” tour of the New York Staff Band, of which the composer was at that time a member. One of his earliest major compositions for band, it uses Joy Webb’s “There will be God”, together with “Morning has broken” and the spiritual “My Lord, what a morning”. 

The music reflects the hurly burly of modern life, with a meandering trombone figure strangely reminiscent of the music for the BBC’s “I Claudius”, before the horns enter with “Morning has broken”. It is an attractive work, and featured some fine solo playing by Kevin Ashman and some imposing bass drum beats, whilst the later statement of “My Lord, what a morning” on the trombones rang out clearly over the band. 

The performance caught the restless nature of the music well, before building to a powerful climax.

Ireland Division timbrels

The second half commenced with a display by timbrellists from the Ireland Division. Dressed in a combination of blue, red and yellow t-shirts to depict the colours of The Salvation Army flag, the music chosen was Leslie Condon’s “Celebration”, played with aplomb by the Territorial School of Music “A” Band. 

For this listener, this item did not seem to make the intended impact, with too many static moments and the players caught in limbo between traditional timbrel moves and attempts at choreography, and this may have been due to a combination of the choice of music, or the difficulties in getting such a diverse group together for rehearsal, making it difficult to produce a unified approach.

Congregational song

Peter Graham provided two arrangements for the second half, the first being a lively setting of “When the Saints”, with the congregation having to watch carefully for their entries, and a slight hiccup when the words for the final chorus failed to appear on the screen at the appropriate time.

Norman Bearcroft and Richard Phillips

When the International Staff Songsters were formed at the behest of General Arnold Brown, their first leader was Lt Col Norman Bearcroft, (present in the hall, but not yet 104, despite Charles King’s quip!) and the brigade sang his recently-published arrangement of “The Christ of Calvary”, to the tune of “Annie Laurie”. 

Once again, the singing was seamless with impeccable phrasing, and they held their position at the end which precluded any unwarranted applause. Their final item was “Let all things Praise”, a new setting by Richard Phillips based on Psalm 150, with additional contributions from Stephen Pearson. 

Bearing clear similarities to “Sing to the Lord”, also based on words from the psalms, it nevertheless came across well on a first hearing, aided by first class diction and well-placed consonants, and no doubt will be taken up by other groups in the future.

Newly appointed to the UK

Isobel and Ian Robinson, Salvation Army officers who are about to take up an appointment at Sheringham Corps, have contributed several songs to the repertoire in recent years. “Lift up your voice and sing” was presented by the chorus with full band accompaniment, under the direction of Stephen Cobb. The momentum was sustained well, with the syncopations and changes of meter being handled effectively, not an easy task with such a large chorus.

A touch of “Fame” from the ISB

Andrew Mackereth’s “Dance like David” was originally entitled “S.P.A.”, standing for the “School of Performing Arts” for which it was written. Including allusions to the music of “Fame”, the title chorus calls on us to dance, sing and praise as David did. 

It is a fun number with the scope for a free drum break in the middle, and although the ISB mastered its technical difficulties their rendition seemed to be lacking something in the way of general exuberance and ebullience.

Tale of three trees

“My simple prayer” married words by Rob Little to the melody “Donegal Bay” by Paul Lovatt-Cooper, the arrangement having been undertaken by Kenneth Downie. This led nicely into Carol Jaudes final presentation, “The Tale of Three Trees”, which depicted three trees and their aspirations. 

The first dreamt of being made into a treasure chest, and ended up as the crib into which the Baby Jesus was placed, the second wanted to the mast of a great sailing vessel, ending up as the bench of the small fishing boat in which Jesus stilled the storm, whilst the third, which wished to remain as a tall tree, pointing up into the sky, was flawed and put aside, until being taken as the cross piece to which Jesus was attached, leading all men to Heaven. 

With a carefully timed backing track and the imaginative use of a scarf to portray both the sail on a boat and the cross, it was a moving presentation which brought a familiar story vividly to life.

Grand finale

Peter Graham’s final contribution was to arrange the finale, “Songs of Praise”, which drew together all the participants and, in the immortal words of Leonard Sachs on the “Good old days”: “most importantly, yourselves”. The songs used were, “Send the fire”, “Blessed Assurance” and “Praise my soul”, all in an easy-to-follow setting with sensible keys for congregational singing. 

The Croydon Dance Group also took part, taking up a “V” formation in the arena, but all they then did was to stretch out their hands towards the end, which seemed something of a wasted opportunity. Equally, the timbrellists could possibly have been included as well to provide more movement and activity.

A brief “Goodnight and God bless” followed from Charles King and that was it: possibly something of an anticlimax, with people unsure whether to applaud or not, when a foot-tapping encore could have made for a more effective close. 

Nevertheless it was an enjoyable evening, trying hard to provide something for everyone, and if band aficionados were disappointed at the lack of a major premiere this year, the return of a large chorus did seem to boost audience numbers after the low turnout of 2008.

Peter Bale

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