The Hertford Choral Society has been
enthusiastic to perform contemporary works. For example, Michael
Berkeley’s Or Shall We Die? was performed in the presence
of the composer in what is understood to have been the first
performance by an amateur choral society (soloists were David
Wilson-Johnson and Tracey Chadwell). Full details of what
the Society has performed since 1948 can be seen on the Repertoire
page.
The Society recently gave the first
performance of Summer Serenade by Douglas Coombes. This
was written for the Society and scored specifically for
just chorus and strings. The New London Orchestra played
for that performance in 2004. This performance was picked
out in Classical Music by Andrew Green as his nomination
for “most notable first performance of the year”.
For the Christmas Concert in 2006,
the Hertford Choral Society, together with the Hertford
Symphony Orchestra commissioned Howard Burrell (formerly
Professor of Music at Hertfordshire University) to make
a special arrangement of “We wish you a happy Christmas”
to close the concert. In 2007, Ian Harrold was asked to
write the arrangement of “We wish you a Merry Christmas”.
In that concert, there was also the first performance of
“The Mystery of Christmas” by HCS member Harold
Chaplin who kindly dedicated the piece to “Derek Harrison
and the Hertford Choral Society”.
As part of the Joint Herts Choirs, the Society has been
involved in the commissioning of a fanfare for the concert
in the Royal Albert Hall, London on 4th November 2007. It
is called BLAST and has been written by Daniel Basford.
It is scored for the full orchestral resources of Berlioz
Grande Messe des Morts (which is the main piece in the concert),
and will begin the concert.