Sunday Times 2
Joy of Easter – celebrated with music at St. Andrew’s
View(s):Easter has arrived, the climax of Holy Week for some 2.1 billion persons. Christians, who make up the world’s largest religious community, observe the days leading up to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection with ritual and observances, some of which go back 2,000 years. Music is a crucial part of the church tradition, and Easter Week is rich in archives of choral and instrumental works for the occasion. The days leading up to Good Friday, the day of the Crucifixion, are eloquent with stirring and tragic music – or, even more eloquent – with silence, while Easter is greeted with an earth-shaking chorus of Hallelujahs to herald the Risen Christ. It is a week of Tragedy and Triumph, Death and Resurrection. Where words fall short, music takes over. And when the Sacred Word is wedded to Sacred Music, the result is more often than not sublime. Glorious.
Tenor Asitha Tennekoon
St. Andrew’s Scots Kirk, the Presbyterian- interdenominational church in Colombo 3, near the Galle Face Green, must be the most consistently “tuned in” church in the country – in the sense of being alert, aware and in touch with music, sacred and secular, to accompany events in the church calendar. St. Andrew’s is also open to varieties of Christian music, old and modern, serious and “popular”, and British music in particular. (The church has long been identified with the Colombo expat, especially British, community. Queen Elizabeth II attended a service there during her visit in 1954).
Listening to a concert within the stained-glass ambience of St. Andrew’s is a highly recommended experience for anyone who enjoys music. The music there is unfailingly good – thoughtfully chosen, thoroughly rehearsed and enjoyably performed.
A sacred cantata titled “Olivet to Calvary”, by the English composer John Maunder (1920-1958), was performed on Wednesday. The cantata text follows the last days of Christ, from betrayal and trial to crucifixion.
This must be the first time the work has been performed in this country, and it was done magnificently, by tenor Asitha Tennekoon, baritone Laknath Seneviratne, organist Denham Pereira, and an excellent chorus comprising members of The Colombo Philharmonic Choir, directed by Manilal Weerakoon. Singers and instrumentalist engaged with the work with seriousness, reverence, warmth and a generosity of spirit. The cantata is tuneful, colourful and harmonically interesting. Most of all, it is easy on the ear. A passerby on the Galle Road could have walked in and enjoyed the work from start to finish, gratefully submitting to the glorious singing and the splendour of the organ accompaniment.
Asitha Tennekoon and Laknath Seneviratne have voices that can cause a frisson of joy and excitement in the listener. Their singing was nothing short of thrilling. Organist Denham Pereira gets better with every concert, evoking poignancy and drama from the keyboard, and effectively stirring the emotions of his congregation-audience.
organist Denham Pereira will give a recital of Easter Music at St. Andrew's Scots Kirk on Saturday, April 26.
Asitha Tennekoon and Denham Pereira will get together again, later this week, to extend their Easter celebrations. Their recital, “Alleluia” (Saturday, April 26, 7 pm, St. Andrew’s), is a celebration of the “joy of Easter.” The music features works by J. S. Bach, C. P. E. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, John Ireland and others.
Voice and organ sounded in perfect sync, Asitha Tennekoon’s tenor resoundingly equal to the strains of the organ, when we dropped by at St. Andrew’s early last week to hear them rehearsing for their duo recital.
“One of the reasons we decided to put together a concert for Easter is that there are so many events organised leading up to it, with regard to Holy Week, including Good Friday, but hardly anything is done for Easter,” the tenor explained. “There are services and presentations that focus on Christ’s suffering and the crucifixion, but there isn’t a lot done in keeping with the joy of Easter, the day of the risen Christ.
“We are excited about this music for several reasons. One is that some of these pieces have not been done in a long time in Sri Lanka, if they have been done at all. And, as opposed to the sadness and slowness associated with music for the rest of Holy Week, this music has an amazing life and exuberance, an uninhibited joy. It’s hard not to smile, or even stop and laugh, while rehearsing some of this music. The joy and buoyancy is extremely contagious, and is something rare and not to be missed, whether or not you celebrate Easter.”
-Stephen Prins