Palmerston North’s Renaissance Singers to perform songs about light

The Renaissance Singers make light of a rehearsal before their concert on Saturday.

As the days get noticeably lighter and brighter, the Renaissance Singers return with a programme based on ways one can use the word ‘light’.

On Saturday, the choir will sing a score of accompanied and unaccompanied songs. In addition, Roy Tankersley will entertain with an organ piece on Pathways at St Andrews’s refurbished organ. He will display his virtuosity – enlightening the audience.

After the Manawatū Guardian’s fulsome review of its last concert in April, when the choir was accompanied by a stage full of percussion instruments, it has been working hard to once again reach those heady heights. The members feel they owe it to their listeners to maintain the high standard they have set themselves.

The songs cover a range of styles, from the hymn-like Christus est Stella based on the text on the 8th-century tomb of the Venerable Bede in England, to the quirky poem by Roger McGough, Poem about the Sun Slinking off and Pinning up a Notice.

Aucklander David Hamilton has captured the poem’s quirkiness in a song written for the men of the choir.

Norwegian Ola Gjeilo penned Northern Lights after experiencing the awe and majesty of the Aurora Borealis. Gjeilo uses Latin to help create a serenity that hints at an underneath terrible and powerful beauty, the result of solar flares that play havoc with the electrics in the world.

As if in considerable contrast, Eric Whitacre put to music a bedtime story often read to young children – Goodnight Moon. Millions of youngsters will have had this read to them, with some gathering up various objects that are said goodnight to as the book was read.

Those in the audience who yearn for some classic songs won’t be disappointed. The choir breaks into several parts to sing Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz and the audience will no doubt feel the rhythm of This Little Light of Mine. Cole Porter’s famous Night and Day will bring back memories for many.

Deep Purple was a hit in the 1930s and was successfully revived in 1976 by Donny and Marie Osmond. A real classic is De Pearsal’s Light of My Soul, extremely popular as the new style of madrigal in 1839!

Renaissance Singers patron Graham Parsons was commissioned to write songs to commemorate Lucy Broadbent, a past president of the choir. He chose to use the theme of light as Lucy comes from the Latin name Lucius - born at the dawn of light. His three songs give the concert local colour.

Music director Christine Archer-Lockwood selected the songs and, as usual, made sure New Zealand composers were represented. In addition to his version of McGough’s poem, Hamilton is represented by his May You See God’s Light, again sung by the men of the choir, and his spiritual-like Walk You in the Light.

The Renaissance Singers are working hard to make sure that as the audience leaves, their demeanour will reveal delight.

The Details

What: Light and Enlightenment

When: Saturday, September 9, 2.30pm

Where: Pathways at St Andrews

Tickets: $25 adult, $20 concession, at the door