1993-95 and "The Cull" but also African Sanctus
I looked around and discovered that a choir not far from Wootton Bassett was performing The Dream of Gerontius so I went to hear it, and found them competent but uninspiring. A colleague from work was a member of the Philharmonia Chorus, and arranged for me to have an audition with them, but I failed, probably due to the fact that I chose a rather ambitious piece to sing. However he introduced me to someone in his department who sang soprano in the City of Bath Bach Choir. She told me that they were about to perform Haydn's Creation, so I went along to check up on them. I really enjoyed the concert, and read in the programme notes something that intrigued me; Nigel Perrin, the conductor, explained that the choir regularly rehearsed with the singers not in standard formation with each part grouped together, but with them "mixed up". At the time of writing the notes, the plan was to do the concert in that way, though "you may find that our courage has failed us!" - actually it did, but for a good reason. I also noted that the next concert was mostly of music that I had not sung before. So this definitely was a choir worth going for. I applied for an audition, and this time I passed.
As it happened the choir had been invited to join up with the Symphony Chorus for three performances of Mahler 2 but by that time I had made alternative arrangements for two of those nights, so I could not join in the concerts. The third was in London, so I was able to travel up for it. While I would have preferred to have been singing, I did enjoy being in the audience.
Meanwhile in Poole the "Night of the Long Knives" took place, also known as "The Cull". As stated earlier, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra management had started to question whether the Chorus were of a sufficient standard to perform alongside the orchestra in the more challenging works in the repertoire, such as Daphnis and Chloe. So Neville Creed was instructed to reduce the size of the Chorus by removing singers he felt were not able to perform to the required level. This meant re-auditioning everyone.
It is a perennial problem with chorus masters to have to explain to those whose voices were not as good as they used to be that their services are no longer required. The pain can sometimes be eased slightly with a bunch of flowers or a bottle of whisky, but it is never easy, and the resultant ill-feeling can last for years. On this occasion telling a third of a choir that they are to go was inevitably a brutal process. Not surprisingly some of those departing resented the way it had been handled, and there was an inevitable awkwardness between those staying and those who had "failed". At least one person who had passed resigned in protest.
It was ironic that while all this was happening, the Chorus had a resounding success. The two performances of African Sanctus in the early 1980s were well remembered, so when they were invited to perform it at the Bournemouth Festival, they were pleased to oblige. The first time we had performed it, the composer, David Fanshawe, said afterwards that it was the best performance he had ever heard. This was very much appreciated until we learnt that he regularly told choirs the same thing. This time, however, he said that it was the closest it had ever come to being a definitive performance, and he asked if the Chorus and Neville Creed would record the piece. He had been planning this for some time, and at last he felt he had the forces to do the work justice. Extra voices were required, so they approached a number of singers who had taken part in the earlier performances but were no longer members, including myself.
So it happened that we all assembled in the Wessex Hall one cold weekend in February 1994. We were not just being recorded, but also filmed, and we were all issued with different coloured sweatshirts depending on where we were seated. According to the schedule there were to be 3 three-hour sessions on both the Saturday and the Sunday, so we knew we were in for a tough weekend. And of course we knew we had to concentrate for the whole time. I shouldn't be saying this, but there are the occasional bits in the work where the right effect can be achieved without actually hitting the correct note. However we were reminded during rehearsals that there are things you cannot get away with in a recording as future singers may rely on us when learning the piece. So we had to get it right the first time, even though there were likely to be subsequent takes.
I had been involved in a number of recording sessions in the past, and they had tended to become quite boring, as you would sing a passage and then wait while the conductor and chorus master and recording engineer listened to it. They would discuss where it needed improving, and then the whole thing would be performed again. So I was prepared for a rather trying weekend, but it turned out to be a really enjoyable time. The composer and the Chorus officers found all sorts of ways of keeping our spirits up, and we were kept informed all the time what was going on, which was very important. One of the trickiest passages to get right was the opening of the Gloria. There is a lengthy pre-recorded passage of a wedding procession; then the choir come in shouting the opening Latin words, after which the live percussion play a short passage which gradually speeds up. We finished the final Saturday session with three takes, then first thing on Sunday morning we had seven more takes, before the engineers were satisfied that it was good enough. Each time we had to shout without holding anything back, so we were not surprisingly quite relieved when they eventually decided they had something they could use.
As the second day progressed we were getting quite tired, but our spirits remained high as we could see that we were getting good results. We eventually rounded it off, slightly earlier than scheduled, with the second Kyrie. My voice had by this time lost its upper register but the lower notes were coming easily. The movement finishes with the second basses on a bottom D flat, and I am very proud of the way that note rings out in the recording. I know I could have got a bottom B flat if required.
As well as African Sanctus there was a new piece, Dona Nobis Pacem, which David had composed as a logical completion of the work. He had written short and longer versions of the piece, and we included them both on the CD.
Later in the year there was a launch concert in the Wessex Hall in Poole, which included the first public performance of Dona Nobis Pacem. Once again this was filmed, as was the rehearsal. The BBC had made a documentary in the 1970s about David's original journey to Africa when the recordings had been made. Now they were planning to do a two hour follow-up programme interspersing a performance of the work with some of the original documentary, and film of him travelling back to the locations of the recordings. In the event the BBC only wanted a one hour programme, so even more than usual of what was shot was not required. But it was very well produced, and rather poignant in places, particularly where David was in Uganda trying to find the Hippo Man, one of the singers and the subject of an iconic picture associated with the work. He couldn't find anyone who remembered him, and it was assumed that he was a victim of the oppressive regime of Idi Amin. I only appear briefly in the film, and at a distance. But oddly enough I was in the brief publicity film that went with the CD. A work colleague of mine was doing her Christmas shopping in W H Smith in Bath with two small children, and was was rather startled to look up at a TV screen and see me.
Because of the success of the CD the Chorus was invited to the USA to perform the work in Orlando. It was also arranged for us to give a concert at the Disney theme park Epcot. There was a good take-up from the chorus and I was invited to join them. They were also happy for my mother to be included in the party. As it happened I was due to attend a conference in Los Angeles just over a week later. My employers were prepared to pay my fare as the combined cost of a business class flight to Orlando and economy from there to Los Angeles didn't cost any more than a business class return flight to Los Angeles.
For the first five days we stayed in a hotel within easy reach of the Disneyworld theme parks. We did a bit of rehearsing, but there was plenty of time for sightseeing, mainly the Disney attractions. Though the party was almost entirely adult, it didn't stop people behaving like children. On the day of the Epcot concert, we were allowed in early, and extremely well looked after. We were allocated special changing facilities and even had instructions on how to use the toilets; the urinals were heat sensitive and flushed automatically when the user walked away, which is not uncommon these days but was innovative then. The only restriction was that we were not allowed to take photos behind the scenes.
The performance took place in the early afternoon in an open-air concert bowl, where we were allowed to rehearse before general visitors arrived. We performed a few movements from African Sanctus as well as a variety of smaller pieces. Because of the location of the place, the audience came and went as they pleased, which can be a bit disconcerting when people get up and walk out in the middle of a performance. But there were enough enthusiastic people (not just non-singing members of the party) to demonstrate that our efforts were appreciated. We had plenty of time after the concert to explore Epcot, which was well worthwhile.
The main concert took place in the Knowles Memorial Chapel which is on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, just outside Orlando. We were guests of the Winter Park Bach Festival Choir, whose members had agreed to host us. So we checked out of our hotel and were taken to meet them. When we got to the College there seemed to be a bit of confusion, but what most of us didn't realise at the time was that the person who had invited us was no longer around, and the College authorities did the absolute minimum that was required to fulfil their contract. Fortunately there were people who were co-operative. There was a smartly dressed lady who welcomed us, got us organised and made sure we had everything we required. However it was somewhat of a surprise when, once we were all in place ready to rehearse, she sat down at the timps and got the show on the road. It turned out that she was Professor of Percussion, and though she did not look like your average drummer, she was as good as any I have worked with. The concert went down very well. It consisted entirely of British music, including works by Parry (I was glad), Byrd, Britten and Holst, with African Sanctus taking up the second half.
My mother and I were staying on in Florida for another week. We did not have definite plans but thought we would hire a car and drive up the coast. However a long-time friend of my mother had spent a year in Orlando with her family, and suggested we contact a couple who had been particular friends of theirs. When she phoned them they suggested we stay for a couple of nights, and in the end they entertained us most generously for the whole week.
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