Venue: Holme Cultram Abbey, Abbeytown, Wigton
Date: Saturday 2 May 2026
Artists: Wordsworth Singers, Andy McTaggart (conductor)
Wakening the Earth
Seamless Journey from The Wordsworth Singers
In the amazing acoustic and ancient setting of Holme Cultram Abbey – with sunlight streaming through its windows, the assembled audience awaited the arrival of the vocal forces of The Wordsworth Singers.
It wasn’t long before this talented ensemble were filling the raised floor levels ascending upwards towards the altar with each respective singer commanding their own individual space.
So, the performance space was set, with an amazing array of superbly well-disciplined vocalists set before a highly anticipating gathering of music lovers.
From James Macmillan’s ‘O Radiant Dawn’ – thus began a wonderfully rich and full-toned sound that completely filled every inch of space in the abbey. Excellent balance and diction from this a cappella ensemble – with expressive tone and word-painting. Exciting dynamics and wonderfully effective crescendo created on the words ‘come, come …’, really bringing forth the walk from darkness into the fullness of light.
Following an expressive reading of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Dawn Wind’ we were then taken to Scandinavian composer Ola Gjeilo’s text setting from ‘The Song of Solomon’ in his ‘Northern Lights’, which these singers gave a hauntingly beautiful interpretation under the inspired direction of Andy McTaggart.
‘In The Beginning’ by Aaron Copland saw the ensemble all change position. From here Anne Marie Kerr’s radiant solo mezzo-soprano voice totally captured the wonderful story-telling narrative of God’s creation of Heaven and Earth, then her colleagues presented and captured the jazz-inspired rhythmical energy with total precision.
The second reading of the afternoon, ‘The Mosaic of Creation’ by Debora Greger then led to a pair of early works from Thomas Tallis – ‘O nata lux’ and Hildegard of Bingen’s ‘O speculum columbe’, respectively, where singers linked both by means of a really effective atmospheric vocal drone-like sound whilst once again changing their position format – and then when coming to
Stanford’s ‘The Blue Bird’; displaying precision rhythm and effective solo from soprano Fiona Weakley. Very moving and atmospheric.
The penultimate section of linked works began with reading from T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’ – into Shruthi Rajasekar’s ‘Ganga’s Peace’ which demonstrated some good female vocal harmonies – and for this listener, sensing what could be likened to “vocal orchestration”; good use of syncopated rhythm which then led through to improvised whistle and
bird-like sounds beginning Anna Disley-Simpson’s ‘The Way Through the Woods’ which displayed clever writing – full of syncopation and contrasts of tonal colour.
More woodland sounds linked superbly to the final reading: ‘‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers’ by Emily Dickinson, during which everyone moved seamlessly back to their independent positions in preparation for ‘Earth Song’ by Frank Ticheli.
In his programme notes, Musical Director Andy McTaggart describes this final work as ‘something special’ – where the composer’s own text ‘grapples with the helplessness and hopelessness of life where small changes can feel futile.’ This certainly was a very emotive ending to an afternoon entitled ‘Wakening the Earth’ compiled wonderfully and thought-provokingly by Andy himself, where finally in Ticheli’s creation we witnessed beautiful word-painting and extremely moving rich vocal harmonies – visibly having the effect of reducing some to tears. ‘Sing, Be, Live, See…Peace’. There was certainly a very palpable spiritual presence in Holme Cultram Abbey following this amazing performance! “BRAVO!” to one and all.
Thank you for the best hour of this listener’s week, without exception!
Here is a Vocal Ensemble in which each and every one of you should be VERY PROUD!!!
Kelvin Dickinson
Venue: St Michael’s Church, Dalston
Date: Saturday, 28 February 2026
Artists: Wordsworth Singers, Andy McTaggart (conductor)
Dreaming The Heavens
This was the first of two linked spring concerts, the second being ‘Awakening the Earth’ on 2 May. St. Michael’s Church at Dalston provided a suitable venue allowing the ethereal sounds to soar upwards and outwards. The pieces included ranged from the twelfth to the twenty-first century. They were interspersed by four poems, one by Hildegard of Bingen and three by modern poets.
The first piece was Benjamin Britten’s ‘Hymn to St Cecilia’. This is a challenging work, but the choir handled it with good phrasing and dynamics which enabled the different feelings in Auden’s poetry to come through clearly. This was followed by the first two movements of Palestrina’s ‘Missa Sine Nomine a6’ with the remaining three movements following later in the programme. This demanded a good polyphonic sound which the choir admirably achieved in all three sections. The first part was followed by Hildegard’s antiphon for the Creator ‘O quam mirabilis est’ where the sopranos and altos of the choir were spread across the front and down the sides of the nave to provide a sound akin to the uplifting nature of the medieval music.
The audience was then jolted suddenly into the modern world with pieces by Thea Musgrave. The choir admirably handled the change in tone and modern rhythms which brought the music alive and delighted the audience with its atmospheric sound effects. We were then transported back again in time by an imaginative reinterpretation by Roderick Williams of William Byrd’s ‘Ave Verum Corpus’ in which the choir was able to maintain the feeling of the original within the more modern framework. The final two pieces: ‘Leonardo dreams of his flying machine’ by Eric Whitacre and ‘Dream Angus’ by Sheena Phillips provided good contrasts with the earlier written pieces. These were interlaced with returns to works performed earlier in the programme.
Overall the choir, under its conductor Andy McTaggart, achieved a consistently harmonious sound beautifully performing the complex and varied musical interpretation of ‘heavenly dreams’.
Clive Riches (Carlisle Music Society)
Venue: Austin Friars School Chapel, Carlisle
Date: Saturday, 22 November 2025
Artists: Wordsworth Singers, Andy McTaggart (conductor)
A Poised and Moving Rachmaninov Vespers
The Wordsworth Singers’ performance of Rachmaninov’s Vespers on 22nd November captivated a full chapel with an accomplished blend of discipline and emotional depth. Set in the candlelit Austin Friars chapel, filled with a large, attentive audience, the atmosphere was ideal for Rachmaninov’s meditative, spiritual sound world.
From the bright, focused opening with carefully shaped phrases, the choir established a warm, resonant tone that immediately captivated the audience. The first movement, “Blessed is the Man,” displayed a broad dynamic palette with rich contrasts, setting the tone for the rest of the performance. Overall, the choir produced a poised, emotionally charged, and focused performance, maintaining excellent intonation for the majority of the work — a remarkable achievement given the entirely a cappella setting.
The ensemble’s cohesion was a testament to conductor Andy McTaggart, whose leadership demonstrated remarkable musical authority. He shaped every phrase with precision, bringing clarity and purpose to every phrase, and highlighted both technical clarity and emotional nuance.
In “Bless the Lord, O My Soul,” a rich alto solo stood out against a delicate soprano accompaniment. Tenor solos in “O Gladsome Light” and “The Story of the Resurrection” impressed with a rich, resonant tone and superb breath control, projecting above the choir without overpowering it. Balance between the parts was carefully maintained. Despite a large bass section providing depth, the choir never felt bottom-heavy, allowing the upper voices to shine.
A particularly poignant moment came in “Ave Maria / Bogoroditse Devo,” where interweaving lines built with passion to a rich climax, and the soaring soprano lines were delivered with radiant clarity. The choir also created a palpable sense of stillness at the end of the “Magnificat.”
Overall, it was an atmospheric, skilfully executed concert that was profoundly moving.
Sarah Massey