BACH TO THE FUTURE

Date: Saturday 15th March 2025
Venue: St Marys Church, Ely
Programme: Various ft. Bach; Jesu Meine Freude
Featuring: Ely Consort with Matthew Rudd (Conductor), Steve Bingham, (Violins),

A splendid concert was given by Ely Consort on Saturday in St. Mary’s Church, Ely. The title of the programme was ‘Bach to the Future’ and the opening music by Bach gave us a good taste of the excellent music that was to follow. Under the directorship of Matthew Rudd, Ely Consort proved to be an excellent choir. They presented an ease of performance in which nothing is too much trouble and all the choir members were thoroughly enjoying the experience.

What was particularly noticeable was this choir’s management of contrapuntal singing, (when two or more melodies are sung at the same time) – for there was nothing laboured about the problem of keeping together. With this choir, they held the lines perfectly with accomplished ease, forming a delightful musical fabric. The works chosen for them to sing gave ample opportunity to exhibit this choir’s talent.

The full-bodied harmonies in the chorale to Jesu meine Freude and in Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs were particularly well sung and pleasing to the ear.

Steve Bingham is no ordinary soloist, he was a major part of this evening’s concert. His performance of the Bach instrumental pieces on violin in between the vocal moments of Bach’s Jesu meine Freude, was phenomenal. The restrained, note-filled passages were played impeccably – with experienced flair, balancing beautifully the resonant choir.

As a bridge to the more modern set of pieces in the programme, Steve played the nineteenth century piece: Scene de ballet by Charles-Auguste de Beriot. In this piece, Steve made the violin positively sing. Whilst there was control and constraint in the Bach with great skill in playing multiple notes quickly, here there was great passion with long sweeping bow movements and long sustained notes that produced dramatic, resonant melodies that inspired the buoyancy of a ballet scene.

The Five Hebrew Love Songs sung by the choir that followed were written by Eric Whitacre, and were indeed very modern, capturing that special Jewish melancholic flavour that reflects the longings and complexity of love. Steve enhanced the performance with violin episodes in perfect keeping with the songs. Adept punctuation from a tambourine provided extra interest.

The Cuckoo played by Steve had little in common in the madrigal that is often sung. This was a very modern piece, written for Steve and inspired by a recording of two cuckoos that he had made when bird watching. Steve played his electric violin, recording opening repetitive phrases while he was playing live above them. His playing included very appealing sustained melodies. It was fascinating.

The choir then sang Sure on this shining Light by Morten Lauridsen. This was a most attractive sonorous piece, reflecting the shining light perfectly with gorgeous melodies and harmonies.

Julie – O by Mark Summer was Steve’s chance again. Using a bass electric violin, he was able to give the melodies in this piece body and a splendid rich tone. This delightful concert ended with four every attractive Old American Songs by Aaron Copland. These familiar tunes were beautifully arranged, with full luscious harmonies making them a real pleasure to sing. It is no wonder they are so popular.

Last but not least, mention must be made of the highly talented accompanist, Jeremy Lloyd, the Assistant Musical Director of Ely Cathedral. He accompanied on organ and piano whenever required throughout the evening with flawless panache which was much appreciated.