I went back to Chalfont St Giles on Wednesday evening. My last visit was on a hot April day in 2018. This time my journey did not go to plan.
As usual I was at Marylebone ridiculously early and thought I’d take an earlier train. As soon as it pulled out earlier than I expected I knew I was in trouble. All I could do was wait resignedly for the conductor to announce our destination. Our first stop was Banbury where I got a taxi back to Gerrards Cross to meet my hostess for an early supper – not as early as planned as I was 75 minutes late.
The Parish Church in Chalfont St Giles was full but a friend had kept us seats. We’d come to hear the King’s Singers Finding Harmony. The sextet was founded in May 1968 and I first heard them sing at Eton not long after that. The singers change over the years but are always two countertenors, a tenor, two baritones and a bass; six choral scholars who have recently graduated from King’s College Cambridge.
Finding Harmony is a new programme which they will officially launch next January. Its theme is songs which have brought people together when their culture or language has been under threat. They focused on six episodes in history: the Civil Rights movement in the US in the 1960s, the Protestant Reformation in 16th century Germany, polyphonic singing in Georgia, lost songs of the Highlands from the 18th century Highland Clearances, songs from Estonia that established an Estonian identity against the Soviet Union in the 1980s and South African songs opposing apartheid.
This varied programme required diligent research and many of the songs have either just been written or specially arranged for the King’s Singers, indeed one was a world premiere on Wednesday. They showed what accomplished performers they are, singing in German, Georgian, Gaelic, Estonian and the Xhosa language. They rounded the evening off with songs about events in the 21st century: the Manchester bombings, an earthquake in Mexico and the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust.
This reincarnation of the King’s Singers displays their skill, virtuosity and a keenness to be different from their predecessors. I cannot argue with that but in truth I would rather hear Masses and Anthems, some opera and so on. The church was looking splendid with huge displays of roses and carnations and afterwards we forced ourselves to go to the pub before catching the right train that got into Marylebone at midnight. A jolly good evening even if I had reservations about the programme.
Banbury to Gerrards Cross in a taxi? I bet that smarted on the wallet. As a past resident of Chalfont St. Giles I am familiar with the ‘wrong train’ scenario. On many occasions I would end up in Chesham (at the end of the Metropolitan line), Beaconsfield, High Wycombe or, yes, Banbury. I recall that, more often than not, I’d visited a pub or two before boarding the train.