HELENSBURGH Oratorio Choir celebrated a return to live performance recently – and a nationwide audience will be able to listen to them sing in the new year.

A concert in the town’s parish church on November 28 also marked the resumption of the Sunday at Seven series which had been placed on hold due to the pandemic.

Under the inspiring leadership of their conductor, Susannah Wapshott, the choir presented two contrasting works – one a staple of the choral repertoire, Vivaldi’s ever-popular ‘Gloria’, and the other the world premiere of a brand new piece, Aileen Sweeney’s ‘Breathing Place’.

The latter is a work the choir had commissioned some time ago, through Making Music’s ‘Adopt a Composer’ scheme, but which had to wait until now for its first public performance.

The choir was joined by two soloists: soprano Sarah Power, who had stepped in at short notice, and mezzo Hannah Bennett. Their contributions, both individually and together, gave consistent pleasure.

Sarah’s performance of the ‘Domine Deus’ was enhanced by Amy Turner’s beautifully-played oboe obbligato, while Hannah’s ‘Qui sedes’ showed that though she is still studying at the RCS, hers will be a name to watch.

READ MORE: Helensburgh choir teams up with composer Aileen in national 'Adopt a Composer' scheme

Both soloists took part in the new work, which also gave the choir’s new accompanist, Duncan Williams, a chance to shine.

In a spoken introduction, Aileen Sweeney, explained that she had begun the compositional process by workshopping with the choir, to find the things that were important to the members. The result was a piece celebrating the local landscape, and the dangers which it may face from climate change.

Musically, it provided many challenges for the choir, both rhythmic and harmonic, but they were met with confidence, and the performance, particularly in its closing section, based on reminiscences of the traditional melody of ‘Loch Lomond’, created a rapt atmosphere, aided by stunning photographs shown on the church’s TV screens.

The performance is to be broadcast on Radio 3 next year.

Derek Clark, the choir’s director of music, said: “It was heartening to see the programme which the Oratorio Choir presented being so well received by an audience who obviously enjoyed listening as much as the choir enjoyed performing.

“The whole concert was a welcome reminder of the choir’s contribution to the musical life of our town, and their next performance, on Sunday, April 10, 2022, of Bach’s St John Passion should be eagerly anticipated by all Helensburgh music lovers.”

Visit helensburghoratorio.co.uk to find out more.

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