- Touched by four Russian Hearts -
We were privileged over the weekend of 13/14 May to have had the opportunity to listen to four Russian male voices singing Russian choral music.
It all started 18 months ago in a conversation that developed on to emails passing back and forth between Britain and Natalia in Russia. As a result the concert was planned (and involved Churches Together, supported by our Mission Partnership) to bring The Hermitage Ensemble from St. Petersburg to sing in Ponteland as part of their tour in Britain.
The Russian Ensemble sang unaccompanied. The Counter Tenor and conductor led off each piece with the use of his tuning fork, held to his ear. He sang the notes, and was able to pass on to the others so they started with one voice, and he also gave the tempo. The second Tenor was a small man with a pleasant voice and a happy smile, who looked as though he enjoyed his part in the group. The Baritone had a resonant, rich voice and he, together with the Bass, kept a strong bass line anchoring the sound produced by the quartet. The last member of the group was Natalia, the only female. She was a good English speaker, organiser of the tour and introduced each item on the programme.
The first half of the evening consisted of Russian Orthodox Church music, short, evocative, plaintive, solemn pieces, using close harmony, however the third was a joyful allegretto. They ended off this section with tunes well known to the audience, one being ‘Moscow Nights’. The second half involved Russian Folk songs including love songs and young men dreaming of sweethearts, one of which included a very expressive “sigh” and “tears”, was he rejected? Though all were sung in Russian, music crosses all boundaries; it is a universal language. Again some tunes were familiar especially ‘Kalinka’ and ‘The Volga Boat’ song, the sound filling the Church and evocative of the boatmen on the river. Some songs were sung quietly but were still clearly heard at the back, and when all four men were in full voice the Church resounded to their voices. All produced wonderful music without apparent effort.
Ian Wagstaff gave an appreciation of our evening. He talked of the sacred music sung that evening as having opened a door to the Orthodox Church. He referred to the human voice as a wonderful instrument, only to be corrected by Natalia who stated that the quartet ‘sing with their hearts’.
The group ended the evening by singing ‘The Cuckoo’ a cheerful, amusing song to finish and show the range of their ability.
Our Sunday Worship was blessed by the presence of the Russians. It was felt to be a unique occasion; will this opportunity happen again in our Church? They sang in Russian five pieces, an Introit; the Lord’s Prayer; an Anthem; an Offertory and ended our service with “Christ is Risen”, all unaccompanied.
The Service was a very moving and uplifting experience as we listened to the rousing sacred music. It has been good to hear the many appreciative comments from those attending both events: “wonderful”, “excellent” and “perfect”. When they had arrived in Ponteland, lunch had been provided to the group by the chef, Les Donald ably supported by his waitress Jan Shorthouse. They served a meal of prawn cocktail (a special Les recipe) chicken breast with apricot and walnut stuffing, wrapped in bacon, followed by summer pudding, fresh strawberries and crème fraiche It was reported that the Russians’ faces lit up at the sight of their meal and they commented that it had been the best meal they had had so far, all made by the perfect chef.
Two families were able to accommodate our visitors overnight. They were a delight to have, genuine people, a lot of fun and very easy to have in their homes. All relaxed after the concert. Natalia spoke good English, others also able but if English failed it was found that conversations could be continued in German and even Italian. The group are professional musicians, who have had very thorough training in their country, though serious voice training does not start until about the age of 20. All are married family men, living in St. Petersburg and are hard pressed to make an income as musicians. This trip to Britain is one of the ways they are able to supplement their income. They have all travelled widely and confirmed that life in Russia has changed but it is still not easy to come out of the country. One of the men is determined on his journeying to keep fit and keep up his body-building. He takes his weights around with him, making sure that he does his daily exercise. His host could not understand what the banging from upstairs was, only to discover the exercises were being completed!
Thanks must go to Les for providing the wonderful meal and to his waitress assistant Jan, to the Scotts and the Wagstaffs for kindly providing the overnight lodging for our visitors. Thanks to Frank for the splendid photographs chronicling the evening, and also his thoughtful gift of copies given to the Group on the Sunday morning, to Alan Gray for assisting with transport, and to all who assisted in other ways, selling tickets, and helping at the concert. But our most sincere thanks must go to Raymond Tipping and Margaret for all her support. Without all his work, planning and arrangements this weekend of interest and pleasure would not have happened. He took on the responsibility for the arrangements, but also the stresses that do occur when such an event happens. It was a group of hungry woebegone Russians who had arrived on the Saturday in Ponteland. On Sunday morning even before we got to the service, further difficulty arose when our visiting Organist telephoned to say she was unwell. A frantic series of phone calls ensued but luckily Mr. Tipping came up trumps again and an excellent replacement greeted the congregation who were unaware of any problem. At the end of the Service it was a relaxed and cheerful group of Russians who left to continue their journey.
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