GEORGE NEWS - On Friday evening, 9 November, St Mark's Cathedral presented Tour de Saison - a journey through the seasons of the church in words and music. This was the brainchild of the cathedral organist, Hyran Motha, who conducted the performance with a multi-voiced choir including the George Male Voice choir under the directorship of Michael van der Walt.
Included in this venture were violinists Lesley Bostander and Johan Engelbrecht, flautist Ruan van der Vyver and Annette Strydom at the keyboard.
Dr Gerrit Jordaan was the organist and Shaé Benn the narrator. The journey started with an introduction by the narrator followed by Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring sung by the combined choirs. The organ accompaniment was a little overpowering to start with but soon settled to an equable balance. The audience was then asked to join in with the sung version of The Lord's Prayer. We continued with our narrated journey starting with the season of Advent, singing all our favourite hymns and carols along the way.
When we reached Good Friday, the George Male Voice choir sang When I survey the Wondrous Cross. However, they veered away from the traditional tune known as Rockingham (due to composer Isaac Watts's association with the village) and opted for the re-arrangement of Cecil Sharp's O Waly, Waly by Tim Hughes. This is a Scottish folk song based on words probably written in the 1600s.
Our journey included Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost (Whitsun) and Seafarers Sunday, sung by the choirs with some unusual but stirring music and ending with that great hymn Praise my soul the King of Heaven, where the lusty singing filled the cathedral. Gerrit Jordaan pulled out the stops and played us out with a Bach Prelude and Fugue in G.
This was a splendid and informative trip through the church year. The choirs were in good voice, with beautiful sopranos backed by the full-bodied tenors and basses. Once again we have to thank Hyran Motha and his music team for another imaginative production using all the resources available to him.
Article: Sue Rijsdijk
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