Birmingham Bach Choir: Let there be Light | Concert Review
As the fog descended on a chilly November night outside, concertgoers packed into Bournville Parish Church - surely a near-sellout audience - for a light-filled programme from Birmingham Bach Choir.
The programme opened with Rutter’s Hymn to the Creator of Light, a work written in 1992 and dedicated to the memory of Herbert Howells. The choir’s warm and inviting sound created a homogenous blend of colour in this tricky work for double-choir. From the softest moment to the light-filled allegro energico, they navigated the score with confidence and precision. As the remnants of the final chord ascended, you could hear a pin drop.
Martyn Rawles, organist extraordinaire, picked up the chorale melody, Schmucke dich, in one of J.S. Bach’s ‘Great Eighteen’ Chorale Preludes. It was described in the programme as ‘sublime’, and sublime it was, the subtle colours and textures of the recently-refurbished organ shining through.
The first half concluded with Zoltan Kodaly’s Laudes Organi, a work new to me, and composed in 1966 for the American Guild of Organists. The unusual text - in praise of the organ itself - was delivered with the Birmingham Bach Choir’s customary panache. There were moments of beautiful tenderness, but at the other extreme, great exuberance. These were held together by Martyn Rawles’ stunning organ playing. The choir achieved a perfect balance, and at the conclusion of the final section, ‘Fiat Amen’, with its catchy ostinato-type motifs, the audience went wild - well, as wild as one might expect in sleepy Bournville on a Saturday evening in November.
The second half consisted of Rutter’s great 1986-work, his Requiem, written in memory of his father and first performed in Dallas, Texas, the same year. This was a faultless performance of this work, full of light, shade, colour and texture. There were opportunities for every part of the choir to shine, the cello and oboe adding to the sublime harmonies which filled the gorgeous acoustic of Bournville Parish Church in its centenary year. Despite obvious distractions as we approached the ‘Pie Jesu’, the choir remained committed, Ciara Preston Myakicheff the perfect soprano soloist for the soaring descant-like melodies, both in this movement, and in the final ‘Lux aeterna’.
Overall, this was a lovely programme - clearly popular with the audience - and navigated with seemingly effortless ease by the choir under the ever-expert direction of Paul Spicer. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again - Birmingham Bach Choir is an amateur ensemble who achieves a standard akin to any professional group. Long may it flourish!
Without reservation, a five-star performance from the first note to the last.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Birmingham Bach Choir: Let There Be Light
Bournville Parish Church, Saturday 22nd November 2025, 6pm
Rutter: Hymn to the Creator of Light
Bach: Chorale Prelude on Crüger’s Schmücke dich
Kodàly: Laudes Organi
Rutter: Requiem
Birmingham Bach Choir
Ciará Preston Myakicheff soprano
Tommy Hill oboe
Joseph Roberts cello
Martyn Rawles organ
Paul Spicer conductor
I received complimentary tickets for this concert in return for a review. If you would like me to consider reviewing your concert, help you promote it, and feature it here on my blog, please get in touch.
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