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On Tour April 2004: Romsey Choral Society at Eglise Saint Jeanne d'Arc Rouen
Established in 1981 Romsey Choral Society is now widely recognised as one of Hampshire’s most interesting and vibrant choral groups and has programmed an astonishingly diverse range of music encompassing over 100 works ranging from Bach to Berio. A considerable quantity of music from the standard core repertoire has been performed, the choir occasionally joining forces with other groups to mount large-scale works. Within the last six years concerts have included Elijah, Mozart's Mass in C minor (with Portsmouth Festival Choir), The Dream of Gerontius (with members of Southern Voices) Poulenc’s Gloria, Walton’s Coronation Te Deum, Bach's Mass in B Minor. and Requiem settings by Brahms, Duruflé, Fauré, Rutter and Verdi - this last with the Farnborough-based chamber choir Voci Cantanti. Most recently Romsey Choral Society has performed Rheinberger's Mass in E flat for unaccompanied double choir, and Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers.
The Society has also explored less familiar repertoire and has programmed works by a number of British composers that include Howard Blake (Benedictus), Geoffrey Bush (In Praise of Mary), Brian Chapple (Magnificat), George Dyson (Hierusalem), Constant Lambert (The Rio Grande) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (Dona nobis pacem & Hodie). In 1996 the choir gave the British premiere of Max Bruch’s Christmas hymn Grüss an die Heilige Nacht winning for the Society a Performing Right Society Enterprise award.
As part of the choir’s commitment to adventurous programme planning, living composers have been regularly championed and in addition to works sung by Howard Blake and Brian Chappell, the choir has also performed choral pieces by George Shearing (Music to Hear), John Rutter (Gloria, Magnificat & Requiem), John Tavener (Hymn to the Mother of God & Song for Athene) as well as a commission by Barry Ferguson (From Far and Lear). Instrumental and vocal works by contemporary composers have also featured in our programmes and have included music by Martin Butler, Stephen Dodgson, Nigel Hess, Francis Pott, Judith Weir and Guy Woolfenden.
In recent years the choir has toured abroad: in France singing in Abbeys in Bayeux, Caen, Mont St Michel and Montivilliers and churches in Rouen and Paimpol; in Belgium, performing in venues in Ghent; and Germany, singing in Cologne and Aachen.
The Society has hosted two 'Come and Sing' events performing Requiem settings by Brahms and Mozart, subsequently raising large funds for a variety of local appeals. From time to time Romsey Choral Society has promoted a number of highly successful choral workshop days which have been directed variously by Andrew Phillips, Margaret Humphrey Clark, Jeffrey Wynn Davies and Nigel Perrin.
In March 2004 Romsey Choral Society recorded their first commercial CD, joining forces with Portsmouth Festival Choir and Yorkshire Imperial Urquhart Travel Band to perform a selection of traditional Christmas carols for choir and brass.
Members of the choir have sung at numerous special services such as weddings and funerals, performing in a wide variety of venues including Winchester Cathedral and most recently at Portsmouth's Roman Catholic Cathedral. Singers from the choir have also taken part in a BBC Songs of Praise from Bath Abbey and participated in Roger Royle's Sunday Half-Hour for Radio Two. In addition, the choir has been invited to sing in four outdoor performances - ‘Music in the Air’ - for the Museum of Army Flying Development Trust with the London based Pro Arte Orchestra under Murray Stewart.
Romsey Choral Society now numbers about 80 singers, drawn from the local area and as far afield as West Sussex and West Dorset, and presents a minimum of four concerts each year, two of which are in the historic surroundings of Romsey Abbey. David Truslove has been the conductor since 1991, succeeding the choir’s earliest musical directors, Anthony Burns-Cox, David Goddard and Jeffrey Williams. The choir is fortunate to work with international soloists (amongst whom have been Donna Deam, Julie Kennard and William Kendall), as well as professional orchestras, of which the Chameleon Arts Orchestra provides regular support.