Eye Bach Choir 40th Anniversary

About the time of Watergate, Abba’s Waterloo, and the invention of the Rubik’s cube, Eye Bach Choir was born.

The warmest and most sustained applause at last week’s concert was for 90 year old founder Merlin Channon, rising from his wheelchair to conduct a Bach chorale.

There was much to celebrate, starting with works from the choir’s earliest days, conducted by Leslie Olive.

Excerpts from Handel’s Judas Maccabeus began with a colourful tenor call to arms by Richard Edgar Wilson; with the choir aptly answering that ‘pleasing and dreadful call’. The rippling serenity of the voices and the orchestral contribution made for something sweet, strident and stirring.

Handel’s Occasional Oratorio excerpts were full of mellow praise, with ‘timbrels and cheerful psaltry’ and a vocal hailstorm.

Rutter’s Look to the Day had classical virtues combined with the sing ability of an uplifting West End musical. All five soloists joined choir and orchestra in Handel’s Dixit Dominus, whose surging emotions made you look forward to the next 40 years.

Basil Abbott, Diss Express 14th March 2014