LAST Saturday Dursley Parish Church echoed to the sounds of one of the greatest masterpieces of the Baroque era, Bach’s B Minor Mass. Tyndale Choral Society should be congratulated for giving a live performance of this great work.

The amateur tradition of small choirs and orchestras is still very much alive and kicking in this country. There are tremendous rewards in getting to know music from the inside as must be done when a difficult work on this scale is to be presented, and the performance which is the climax of all this study and hard work often has qualities of sincerity and passion which more glossy and professional performances lack.

Mr Michael Power, the conductor, had made some interesting changes in the layout of this performance. He also contributed the programme notes which explained to some extent the reasons for these changes. The admirable quartet of soloists was used to take over certain sections of the choruses and indeed to sing the whole of the wonderful hushed Crucifixus on their own. This breaks up the three choruses Et incarnatus est, Crucifixus and Et resurrexit, which should run consecutively and quite spoilt the effect of the blaze of colour with which Et resurrexit takes over from the last chord of the Crucifixus.

I would also take issue with the use of soloists in the first chorus. To my mind it weakens the form of the whole of the Kyrie and thus of the whole work.

The Corelli Chamber Orchestra, augmented by a fine team of woodwind and brass, played with great verve. This newly formed group of young string players should, with more experience, form a very welcome addition to the musical scene in Gloucestershire.

The four soloists, Lynne Hirst, Ruth Gleave, Robert Forbes and Thomas Hunt were a great pleasure to listen to and must have given great inspiration to the choir. Not that they need it, for they rose to the challenge with devotion and gusto. Their stamina seemed endless and even in the final Dona nobis pacem they held their own against the three trumpets and drums at full blast.

We, could, perhaps, have had more quiet singing as a means towards greater contrasts in this performance. Michael Power’s tempi were fast and lively, one might almost say hectic. A slightly more relaxed attitude from the conductor might have avoided some untidy starts.

The acoustics in Dursley Parish Church are very good and the balance between choir, orchestra and soloists could not have been bettered. Rarely have I heard flute, soprano and tenor soloists, with the strings, so delicate and clear in the ravishing Domine Deus.

But it is the choir that makes or breaks a performance of the B Minor Mass and the Tyndale have once again given us a richly rewarding experience.

Laura Kane
November 1990

THERE WAS a shocked silence in the second half of Tyndale Choral Society’s concert in Dursley Parish Church when conductor Michael Power raised his baton for an item which highlighted the three trumpeters - and discovered there was only one!

The Society was performing one of the great masterpieces of the baroque era, Bach’s B Minor Mass, and had completed the first piece in the second half when the sudden lack of trumpeters was spotted. The orchestra had been out of the church for the interval and most of them trooped back in from the parish centre and took their places .... all except the two trumpeters. They were suddenly seen at the back of the church frantically trying to attract attention so that they could get back into the parish centre and collect their instruments.

When they did return to the church, their attempt to creep in quietly was foiled by the audience - who cheered the embarrassed musicians as they took their places.

‘Nothing like this has ever happened before’ said a member of the society ‘It really was quite embarrassing for them’.