I was reminded this week of a lovely memory which I suspect some of my readers might share. When I was a lad 70 years ago my mother made sure I attended church regularly by enrolling me in the choir. I was lucky in that I had good choirmasters who were quite adventurous and to this day I am familiar with plain-song, Bird, Tallis and of course the oratorios. My near neighbour at Hey Farm, Margaret Sharples, knew this and due to the fact that my Uncle Tom was a former member of the Huddersfield Choral Society we got two tickets and had an unforgettable night out at Huddersfield Town Hall.
Shortly afterwards she suggested I might like to join in a do-it-yourself Messiah at the Inghamite chapel in Salterforth. I hadn't sung for many years and gave it a go. It was one of the most enjoyable things I ever did, a disparate bunch of us turned up, had a couple of practices and then gave a public performance. I don't doubt some of you may remember it and perhaps even joined in. There was a funny incident at the first rehearsal when I found out that I wasn't a tenor but a bass-baritone! I hadn't sung since my voice broke and soon realised I had to do a quick shuffle round the back of the organ into the bass section! The conductor buttonholed me afterwards and I explained why I had moved. He said it was obvious I'd sung Messiah before because I was following the runs so well. It's amazing how something like that never leaves you. It was a great night and I think the audience liked it as well!
Young people today might be surprised if they knew how popular choral singing was early in the last century (am I really that old?). When I was a lad in Stockport barely a week passed without a performance of an oratorio at one of the chapels in the town, especially in winter. These were free admission and some great names gave their services. Kathleen Ferrier, Isobel Baillie, Heddle Nash and Owen Brannigan, names that have been largely forgotten today but in their time the equivalent of today's pop stars. I still have my mother's battered copies of the Novello hard back scores and we used to go and sit listening following every note from the music. If ever there was an innocent night out, that was it. Funnily enough, it was mainly in the chapels, I can't remember a performance in church outside the normal services.
I know I'm a hopelessly old fashioned romantic but I'm so glad that I lived in that era and that in the late 1970s I got the opportunity of doing the Messiah one last time in Salterforth. A wonderful memory and I hope I've struck a chord with a few of the older end! Nothing better for you than a good sing and we certainly raised the roof that night at the Inghamite chapel!
The Inghamite Chapel at Salterforth.
