And with that, Conductor David Milner raised his baton for the opening performance of‘Come and Join the Celebration’ by English organist and composer Valerie Collison (1933- ). And we were treated once again this year to the charming voices of St Anthony’s Senior Choir, led and conducted by Anna Lockey, as orchestra, choir, and audience all joined in, David Milner leading us all to sing and clap along. As a welcome snippet of history, David informed us that Ralph Vaughan Williams(1872-1958) was a great fan of Christina Rossetti’s (1830-1894) poetry, much of which he set to his sensuous early C20th compositions, insisting that his friend Gustav Holst should write a setting for Rossetti’s ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ (1872) - which he went on to do, publishing it as the popular Christmas hymn ‘Cranham’ in 1906. ‘A Holst Christmas’, arranged by Douglas E. Wagner, is an artfully crafted medley of Holst’s best loved Christmas settings including Christina Rossetti’s most famous poem; the C15th Middle English carol ‘Lullay’; ‘Christmas Day’; ‘In Dulci Jubilo’; and ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’. Christian themes and carols drawn from English folklore evoke the Christmas spirit like nothing else, and the orchestra didn’t disappoint, playing this wonderful music so smoothly back and forth across the themes, both beginning and ending with Holst’s setting of Christina Rossetti’s immaculate ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’.

 

‘Wassailing’ is undoubtedly what we all should be doing more of come Twelfth Night - for our rude health and an abundant crop of apples in the year to come! Philip Lane (1950- ) composed ‘Wassail Dances’ in 1973, very successfully evoking English winter landscapes, and our orchestra proved itself proficient in conjuring up all sorts of pixies and dancing spirits with flutes (Sheila Rayson, Lynne Dakers, Anna Lockey (again) and, on piccolo, Eileen Peterson). Distant horns across the frozen valleys and all the instruments of the orchestra evoked more folklore and rural village life for this beautifully delicate composition.

 

‘Les Patineurs’ (1882) - also known as ‘The Skaters’ Waltz’ by Emile Waldteufel (1837-1915) is another delicate piece inspired, apparently, by the cercle des patineurs (rink of skaters) at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. This waltz was great fun as we swayed along with the lilt, watching in our mind’s eye the skaters gliding, sliding, rising, partnering, dancing, spinning, tripping, falling, and pirouetting across the frozen lake of ice. Well played, once again, with a special nod to Brian Naisby on timpani.

 

Now we had St Anthony’s Senior Choir (led by Anna Lockey and accompanied by Graham Brown on digital piano) singing a wide range of choral works with Christmas themes: an arrangement of Gloria In Excelsis; Noel, Noel - with a beautiful descant; a jazzy ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’; lovely harmonies in ‘Ding-ding-a-dong’ ‘Hark, Hear the Bells’!; a‘gingerbread feeling’ in ‘Precious Moments’; ‘When Christ was Born’ with a soaring ‘Christ Divine’ and a beautiful end chord; and we were all invited to join in for a touching rendition of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’. This is not the first time St Anthony’s has joined SSO for our Christmas concert. Besides choir leader Anna Lockey playing flute with the orchestra, SSO has a history of working in partnership with St Anthony’s on orchestral workshops, and long may such collaborations continue. They can be very proud of their self-confident and accomplished Senior Choir.

 

‘The Carol Symphony’ by Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901-1947) is based on five Christmas carols and was first performed by the BBC Wireless Orchestra in 1927. Here, we heard the fourth and final movement (Allegro energico come prima). It is very energetic, rather complicated, referring back to ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ from the first movement, entwining ‘Here We Come A-wassailing’ amongst other Christmas elements - did I hear‘In a Pear Tree’? It is very joyful, very fast at times with flying and scurrying strings, powerful and loud brass, all cascading towards a thunderous, triumphant finale. ‘We all finished together!’ joked Musical Director and Conductor David Milner. Certainly, it must be an enjoyable challenge for any orchestra - but actually the remarkably confident performance demonstrated once again the growing proficiency of Sunderland’s Symphony Orchestra under David’s skilled Directorship.

 

The ever-popular ‘Champagne-Polka by Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) was written for his successful tour of Russia where he performed the piece, subtitled ‘A Musical Joke’, in the summer concert season at St Petersburg. By accident or design, SSO’s 25th celebratory anniversary year coincides with the second centenary year of the birth of Johann StraussII. David Milner had some assistance with the popping champagne cork noises from a young musician, and we all swayed along with this lively waltz, brass and timpani umpahs and all. Powerful strings led by David McCourt, and some really good playing by the woodwind section once again. Roaring applause!

 

Returning to early C20th evocation of English folklore, ‘A Vaughan Williams Christmas’entwines a magisterial ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ with a ‘Wassail Song’ and ‘Sussex Carol’. Very gently and smoothly RVW (1872-1958) interplays each carol over and under the other in what sounds to me like a choral ‘round’ with a quick, triumphant end. What an amazing composer he was, the short piece so sensitively played by SSO’s wonderful instrumentalists. The Orchestra dedicated this piece to the memory of Former Sunderland Mayor Dorothy Trueman who has recently died. Dorothy, a regular attender at concerts, was a true ambassador for the orchestra and spoke passionately about how she believed the orchestra was a shining star and a great cultural asset within the city in her retiring speech as a Mayoral Patron of the orchestra at the Spring Concert in March 2023. ‘A Vaughan Williams Christmas’ was played in remembrance of Dorothy.

 

And now we had St Anthony’s Senior Choir back for Bodie’s ‘Heaven Knows I Tried’; Arianna Grande’s ‘Santa Tell Me If You’re Really There’; and the Choir’s favourite and mine, Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan’s ‘Fairytale of New York’ (1987), originally recorded by the late and great English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl with Shane MacGowan. Sung with a great Irish rolling lilt, complete with fists raised in unison for the finale.

 

Martin (1914-2011) and Blane’s (1914-1995) ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ (1944) brought Hollywood nostalgia into the Christmas festivities with the evocation of Judy Garland’s wistful solo in the wartime film ‘Meet Me In St Louis’ (Warner Bros. Dir. Vincent Minelli). Arranged by John Edmondson (1933-2016), this touching performance was very delicately played, no doubt bringing a tear or two to the eye. Great applause under St Gabriel’s magnificent wooden vaulted roof. Lastly in the programme was Leroy Anderson’s (1908-1975) hugely popular Christmas swing number ‘Sleigh Ride’ (1948). Such fun to end a beautiful Christmas concert with this joyful, comic celebration - sleigh whips and all - by ‘one of the great American masters of light orchestral music’ - made even more popular for Christmas by The Ronettes with their 1963 version. Bravo Sunderland Symphony Orchestra! Happy 25th Anniversary! Onwards and upwards!

 

Matthew Burge, 7th December, 2025