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"The angels in heaven were rejoicing at the music they heard from Kendal Parish Church this evening. Thank you all very much!" These welcome words, spoken by Roger Burgess after he had said the vestry prayer which followed Evensong on 14th May, were worth ten times more than anything I could have said to the choir. After all, they are accustomed to hearing me making comments, often critical but usually encouraging, I hope.
After almost eighteen months in the post of Director of Music and as we approach the end of the academic year, it is, perhaps, a good time to look back and review what progress has been made. Of the four boys who were choristers at the beginning of December 1998, two - Chris Talbot and Ryan Postlethwaite - have moved on to sing with the men of the choir, leaving two - our excellent Head Chorister Daniel Hodgson and Graham Sadler as a link with past times. Who are the others? Elliott Perrin, Troy Chaplow and James Mallison joined soon after I arrived and are now becoming very experienced singers. Then last November we were amazingly lucky to recruit seven more, who are rapidly gaining in confidence. They are the Hartley brothers, Richard and Christopher, Peter Forsyth, Adam Anderson, Joe Hague. Jamie O'Callaghan, and Craig Dixon.
Recently. we have had glimpses of what I call "the Cathedral sound". The boys' top notes are acquiring a "bloom" to the tone quality and there is an improved blend as they get used to singing together and gain in confidence. This is all very exciting and I notice an improvement almost every week. If I were to be asked precisely what it is that I do to get them to make these sounds, I really would not be able to say. It is something which seems to be achieved almost by a process of osmosis. I have a clear idea of what I want them to sound like and try to convey this, I suppose a degree of musical competence comes into it somewhere, but more important is enthusiasm and encouragement, It must also be an enjoyable experience. I am often criticised for not being more strict. A fellow diocesan choirmaster was recently appalled when he became aware that the boys call me by my Christian name. I believe that the days are long gone when choirboys quaked in their shoes at the wrath of a choirmaster. We are working together as friends to make good music and enrich our worship and we are now beginning to see that this approach is working. The boys have a real sense of pride when they do something well and, equally, are aware and quite self-critical when something is not as good as it should be. And I do hope that none of them quakes in his trainers when I am around!
As well as working hard in choir practices, there is an important social side to the choir too. We are very indebted to John Hodgson, assisted by Brian Inglesfield for their contribution to the Choir Club. For an hour after the Wednesday practice, there is pool, darts and computer games and, now that the evenings are lighter and the weather is better, football is popular and it is our intention to beat the Carlisle Cathedral Choristers' football team in the near future. We have occasional trips and just before Easter we enjoyed going bowling at Morecambe, where Peter Forsyth astonished us all with his skill. I must also express gratitude to Mike Mason for allowing us the use of the Boys' Brigade minibus on these occasions.
It has been a welcome development that the boys now sing occasionally at the 9.15 service. This gives them the opportunity to worship with more young families and be heard by the majority of our congregation.
This brings me to a plea on behalf of Choral Evensong. BCP Choral Evensong has been described, quite rightly too, as the 'jewel in the crown" of Anglican worship. Some of the most wonderful music in the repertoire has been written for this service. At the Evensong which so delighted Roger Burgess the canticles were sung to Sumsion's popular setting in A major, and the anthem was "Blessed be the God and Father" by S.S.Wesley, one of the great anthems of the English Church. So please support Choral Evensong; as the choir continues to develop we will try to make it an ever improving feast of music. We have made remarkable progress, but this is only the beginning. I am determined to see to it that the Choir of Kendal Parish Church is among the very best in the North of England and I know this is possible.
Hugh Davies
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