THE RTE Philharmonic Choir's programme last Friday night was a tribute to the new chorus master, Mark Duley. A large audience heard music by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Britten, most of it unaccompanied, much of it in eight parts, and some of it demanding in technique and interpretation.
The venue forced a longline layout and neither this nor the hard, resonant acoustic were helpful for the choir or conductor. Problems with intonation and with getting a clean attack were evident in parts of Mendelssohn's Richte mich, Gott and Brahms's Drei Gesange, Op. 42. The tenor and alto sections had a clearer focus than the sopranos and basses and the overall sound was wanting in that definition of tone which facilitates subtle variations of colour. Vowel sounds were diffuse and undifferentiated.
The RTE Philharmonic Choir is a mixed multitude, with a membership variable in experience and accomplishment. Partly because of this, sustaining long notes and ending them cleanly was a problem. The same goes for rapid notes and words, which were troublesome in Britten's Hymn to St. Peter and A Hymn to St. Columba. These pieces were ably accompanied by Andrew Johnstone (organ). His knowingly phrased and beautifully registered performance of Brahms's Fugue in A flat minor was the best performance of this work I can recall.
