Review: Brahms Requiem, City of Wolverhampton Choir

Brahms Requiem

City of Wolverhampton Choir

Concert review by Jerald Smith

Nothing if not innovative is the City of Wolverhampton Choir's young conductor Joseph Cooper, as he so amply demonstrated in Saturday's concert at Cranmer Methodist Church in Wolverhampton.

He presented the work as it was originally performed in its early appearances, with other pieces of music interspersed between the movements.

This was because this Requiem was the first in the German language and used Lutheran biblical texts, rather than being a setting of the Latin mass. These were revolutionary ideas in the 1860s and audiences needed to be gently accustomed to the concept.

Was it a worthwhile exercise? To a large degree it was, though one of the drawbacks was a rather rough and ready piano duet accompaniment which lacked some sensitivity for the music and did not provide the subtle tonal colouring that an orchestral accompaniment might have done.

The choir itself sang mostly very well. Confident in their entries, secure in their vocal lines and pleasingly solid in their intonation, with just an inclination at times by the sopranos to force their top notes, making them sound a little shrill.

Cooper kept the tempo properly bright throughout, but neglected control of the vocal dynamics as some of the quietest passages were slightly too loud.