Musical Directors:
Harry England: 1929-1942
Patricia Groves: 1942-1958
Dennis Powell: 1958-1993
David Parkes: 1993-2006
Ian Clarke: 2006-present day
History of Wombourne & District Choral Society
The choir, originally called the
Wombourne Choral Society, was founded in 1929 by Harry England. Formerly a professional baritone, he had been
headmaster of Enville School near Kinver, and organist of Enville Church. Following Harry’s death in 1942 in his late
eighties, Miss Groves, head of music
at the Technical High School, became the choir’s second conductor. She left the
district in 1958 and was then succeeded by Dennis Powell who remained the
conductor until 1993. (At some stage the original Wombourne Choral
Society changed its name to Wombourne and District to reflect the fact that
many of its members come from much further afield.)
The rehearsal venue was originally the
Wesleyan Chapel, now the United Reformed Church, in Wombourne's centre, where
the first concert under Dennis Powell took place. The main work was Edward German's ‘Merrie
England’. Later the rehearsal venue
moved to the Church School, Wombourne. It was decided that the choir should
become an evening class, initially under Sedgley Evening Institute's wing, but
later under Staffordshire Education Committee. This lasted until the choir moved to
Springdale Junior School, Wolverhampton, when we were adopted by Wolverhampton
Education Committee. Several years
later, independence was resumed.
Under Dennis Powells’ tenure, the choir
developed to become essentially the choir it has become today. It accompanied
the Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra in many large scale works, including
Vaughan-Williams's ‘Sea Symphony’, Elgar's ‘Dream of Gerontius’ and ‘Music
Makers’, Tippet's ‘A Child Of Our Time’, Constant Lambert's ‘Rio Grande’, JS
Bach's ‘St Matthew Passions’ and ‘B Minor Mass’ and Handel's ‘Messiah’. Dennis also conducted the choir in a number of
smaller works by less well known composers, such as Moeran, Finzi and Poulenc.
When Dennis Powell retired in 1993,
David Parkes became the fourth conductor and the choir continued to go from
strength to strength. Well-established
favourites were mixed with challenges such as Honegger’s ‘Christmas Cantata’.
There were ambitious large-scale performances, notably Elgar’s ‘Dream of Gerontius’
in Wolverhampton Civic Hall, with Paul Nilon as an overwhelming Gerontius as
well as Brahms’s ‘A German Requiem’ in Dudley Town Hall with Denise Leigh as
soloist. Summer concerts became
well-established, giving us opportunities to explore a lighter repertoire
including virtual excursions to Broadway.
David also led us on a real excursion
to France in 2003, starting a fascinating musical and social association with Chantemoy
choir from Orléans. This was followed by
a return visit from Chantemoy in 2005. Our
choir made a second visit to the Loire Valley in 2007 and Chantemoy plan to
come back again in 2010.
In 2006, David reluctantly took his
leave of us, and was succeeded by Ian Clarke, already well known to the choir
for his splendid organ and continuo playing in several of our concerts. Under Ian’s direction, the choir continues to
develop its repertoire and skills, with performances of steadily increasing
scale and musical quality. Membership currently stands at around 100 singers. Those interested in joining may be attracted
by the policy of "no auditions".
The mix of old and new continues.
Vaughan-Williams makes a welcome return in his centenary year.
The choir has frequently used local
solo singers, including the baritone John Oxley who is a member of the
choir. Other soloists are often drawn
from past and present students of the Guildhall School of Music and we have
over the years been fortunate enough to sing with young soloists who have later
progressed to establish themselves as major performers on the concert stage. The
choir has been accompanied over the years by a number of smaller orchestral
groups, including most recently Chameleon Arts and the Orchestra da
Chiesa. We have also been very fortunate
in the pianists who have accompanied us both at rehearsals and performances. Anthea
Podmore, our accompanist of very long standing, retired in 2006 and we were very
pleased that the equally brilliant Beryl Beech was willing to join us.
As the choir, in its various
incarnations, approaches its eightieth birthday, we look forward from a
position of musical, numerical and financial strength to a future as a focus
for choral activity in this area. And we
look back with thanks to the gifted, talented and dedicated individuals who
have made this possible.
December 2008
[This article has been condensed by Anthony Rathbone from articles
written in April 2000 by Dennis Powell, the choir’s former conductor and by
Giles Job, our archivist and member of the bass section, who kindly agreed to
bring the story up to date.]