The 1885 Singers are Putney’s choir, all volunteers, all local and all talented. A musical hotbed in our tiny parish of 3.52 square miles – and that goes for the orchestral ensemble too. There’s something beautiful about walking into a concert space knowing three of the singers and bumping into three others in the audience. Community spirit warmed up All Saints Church by the Common, as the pre-concert wine flowed and the crowd mingled happily.
Tonight’s menu consisted of Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes De Confessore K.339. I asked their Conductor since a year and a half, Christopher Langworthy, how he felt the choir had developed. He said he’s introduced more ambitious programming, but always in collaboration with the Committee which is amazing. It’s important to get the balance right, between choosing engaging pieces, including variety, swapping periods, showcasing lesser-known works and even running with new themes such as ‘all-British’. I asked how the choir has developed him. He said he’d learnt to listen to them very carefully, and it has been an absolute pleasure making music with such ‘intelligent, enthusiastic, hard-working people’. I would say he’s grown in confidence.
In the interval I caught up with my publisher, Catheryn Kilgarriff, who had this to say: ‘The acoustics are great, it’s a very sympathetic venue, well suited to enhance the sound and power of the choir.’ Her husband Patrick added; ‘The choir has a distinctive soprano sound. The Tenor, Tom Law, was particularly expressive emotionally.’ Their friend Judy sings in a huge choir and noted: ‘It’s a small, tight-knit and very disciplined choir. The Soprano, Madeleine Perry, and Mezzo Soprano, Leilani Barratt, melded tonally very beautifully.’ I said my goodbyes and recognised a friend of a friend, Kate, who also has an allotment right near mine. She was supporting her neighbours and loves live music. She thought the orchestra and soloists were uplifting and praised it as a ‘lovely local event with a 10 minute walk home!’
After the concert I approached my friends in the choir for their views on how it went. Helen Bradshaw, my daughter’s ex-Music teacher, was feeling exhilarated that they had ‘reached a more expressive standard vis a vis the dynamics’, which translated, meant that they can pull out anything, from trembly lament to goose-pimply walls of sound. Jonathan Startup, who I know from bellringing, was also very pleased; ‘Mozart had some challenging moments but we overcame them, everyone did an excellent job’.
A few instrumentalists got collared by Helen, starting with her husband, Nick, on bassoon, who thought ‘the choir had much more energy than last year!’ The Organist, Alex Flower, observed how the rehearsals were ‘extremely good-humoured’ and the Double Bass, Stewart Cowley, loved how much trust he was given by the Conductor. In a large orchestra, he said, he follows orders, but in a performance such as this, there’s a ‘mutual dependency with the Bass voices’. It was up to him to decide when to go loud and lead the Bass singers in, and ‘when to merge into the background throb. All music builds from the bass up; we notice the lead singers, but we dance to the Bass beat.’ Amen to that.
Look out for their next performance: Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem, Sunday March 29th 2026
Are you a Tenor/Bass in need of a choir? Contact: 1885singersputney@gmail.com
Hi! I have a ‘portfolio’ lifestyle, jumping between mum, journalist, curator of my own museum, chauffeur, French tutor and carer. I love music, dance, theatre and dancing in the evenings, and helping others to enjoy life. I’ve been through the mill healthwise, along with my family, and am grateful for every day.
