Gravesham Choral Society

REVIEW - Wednesday & Thursday 18th & 19th December 2002 - Carol Concerts

NO ROOM AT THE INN . . . . OR AT ST. GEORGE'S!

Gravesham Choral Society twice sang to a packed St George's Church for both their successful pre-Christmas Carol Concerts. The programme for both evenings included a very enjoyable mix of familiar carols, some with enthusiastic - and musical - audience participation, and longer items from the choir. The evenings began in traditional style with 'Once in Royal David's City', with the opening verse sung very well by Jo Shaw and June Walker. The major work was Vaughan Williams' 'Fantasia on Christmas Carols', with the baritone solo sung confidently by John Harding. Organ accompaniment was provided by Geoffrey Lester and the whole evening was pulled together by the baton and convivial good humour of conductor, Alan Vincent. The programme included some challenging and less familiar works, in particular 'A Babe is Born' by William Mathias and 'Ring out the Wild Bells' by Percy Fletcher. Fletcher based the lyrics on Tennyson's 'In Memoriam' and included the two lines "Ring out the thousand wars of old, ring in the thousand years of peace". Fletcher wrote his piece in 1914 and that message was clearly ignored throughout the ensuing 1914-18 war. Given the current situation in the world, let us hope for a stronger message of peace in 2003.