A Triumphant Return - RMC at St Julian’s Parish Church

There can be few finer experiences than that of blending your voice with 40+ other people in a choir.  The joy factor gets turned up several notches when you perform for an audience.  So, the restrictions placed on choirs over the last few years have had a significant impact on all those who love to sing with others.  This has particularly been the case for Risca Male Choir, who only had a few opportunities to stage with their brilliant young MD, Tomos Gwyn, when Covid first appeared in Wales.  But with our first major concert booked for August 6th at the beautiful St Julius and St Aaron Church in Newport, RMC has been working harder than ever to ensure that its performance would delight our audience there.

This concert had a rather bitter-sweet emotion to it, being as it was, the final concert conducted by Tomos. Our MD and choristers have developed a strong mutual respect for each other during the last four years and this special evening would bear witness to the excellent sound that has developed as a result.  RMC is unusual in that we practice together twice a week.  Many would say that this encourages a determination to perfect our performances.  Every chorister takes great pride in playing their part in producing the right sound.

It seems silly now, but there had been a concern over selling tickets to a concert that was not on our usual home turf.  As it turned out, we found ourselves adding extra chairs into a very full church to allow for the additional people paying at the door.

Following a short introduction from the vicar, Fr David Matthews, the choir launched into our opening number, Gloria; a powerful piece written by our previous MD, Geraint Davies.  This appeared to have the desired effect of creating a highly energised and upbeat atmosphere and was followed by Ola Gjeilo’s beautiful Ubi Caritas, demonstrating RMC’s ability to move from high energy to quiet contemplation in a heartbeat.

Rhodri Prys Jones, a young Welsh tenor who made his professional debut with the WNO in 2018, provided the additional entertainment of the evening, ably accompanied by Dora Seaton on piano.

Here was a young singer (he is just 30) with a promising future, demonstrating an attractive and vibrant sound. His varied programme gave us songs by Richard Strauss, an aria by Donizetti and a good many items by Welsh composers. Members of the audience remarked on his ability to communicate strongly.

The accompanist in any choir performs an essential role, both in practice sessions and in concert.  Without them, progress with learning new numbers would be slow and the impact of each song in concert, considerably reduced.  We are fortunate in having Alison Thomas, an accomplished pianist, who was on particularly good form for this event.

Our second pair of musical items started with Here I am Lord, written by Dan Schutte and arranged by our own Martin Hodson.  This is a relatively simple and straightforward piece to sing but, as with many such pieces, the real task is to express the subtle changes in dynamic as the piece progresses.  All choristers are encouraged to write notes in our music during practice.  I have ‘smooth and serene’ written at the top of my copy and I think this sums up the flavour of this piece. It was followed by Seal Lullaby, another item that demonstrates RMC’s ability to sing quietly.  This has always been an audience-pleaser, emulating the rocking movement of the sea in a gently beautiful song, designed to coax even the most fretful baby to sleep.

Sunset Poem, taken from Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, followed Rhodri’s second set.  Our second tenor, Dave Tutton, brought his rich, euphonic voice to an accompanying rendition adapted from the poet’s masterpiece, by Martin Hodson.  This is, for many, a highly evocative and treasured piece, filled with warmth and humour.  It went down very well with this audience and I know was appreciated by Tomos.  The moving spiritual, Where shall I be? took us to the interval with rapturous approval from our audience.

Once in a while, RMC takes on a piece of music that really tests our mettle. This year, Tomos has introduced us to Didn’t my Lord deliver Daniel, written by Moses Hogan and arranged by Tomos himself. The pace of this music is marked as ‘Presto’, and it certainly moves at a rapid pace, with a number of syncopated rhythms that require absolute focus and timing from us all.  Of all the pieces within this concert, it was Daniel that raised the greatest anxiety amongst many choristers.  Of course, Tomos had worked hard on the piece with us, but still, as we started the second half of the concert, it was with some trepidation that we launched into the opening verse.  What adds to the ‘excitement’ of this piece is the additional ‘solo group’ that has six of our experienced choristers singing counter melodies as the four choir sections work their way through the verses and choruses.  So how did we do? Well, a little honesty is called for here and, yes, there was some timing issues within the first section.  However, Tomos brought us all back together very quickly and we completed the song to appreciative applause.  If music can lift a church roof, this piece certainly fitted the bill. The choir then slowed the pace down with an RMC favourite, Goin’ up a yonder.

After Rhodri’s third set, RMC sang two popular music pieces, Tears in Heaven, arranged by Tomos and Wind beneath my wings arranged by Martin.  There is a common misnomer that popular music is easier to sing.  While both these pieces are in English, removing the pronunciation work, Tomos has required absolute accuracy with conveying the right emotion and with creating just the right balance across the sections. We finished the penultimate set with Gounod’s Sanctus, with Rhodri singing the tenor solo.

I think many of us in the choir were prepared for this concert to be an emotional one, knowing that it would be the last one with Tomos at the helm.  To be finishing the concert with two powerful pieces such as Anfonaf Angel and Gwinllan a Roddwyd was a test, indeed, of each chorister’s focus and control.  The former, written by Robat Arwyn, has particular significance, as it was one of the pieces that Tomos first worked on with us. The latter, by Caradog Williams, is a song we have worked on through the pandemic, with Tomos and Alison putting sections on video for us to practise at home.  They are both beautiful pieces to sing and while this Englishman has had to work extra hard to perfect the pronunciation of Welsh, these are amongst my favourite RMC songs.  I would be less than honest if I said that I found it easy to maintain an even voice throughout each number, particularly the last lines.  But the audience clearly loved both and rewarded us with a rapturous applause.

Following some fitting words from our Chairman, Paul Phillips, expressing RMC’s gratitude to Tomos, we finished with a rousing Welsh National Anthem.  This was, without doubt, a successful concert and a fitting finale to Tomos’s excellent work with our choir.

Chris Denham - Baritone