Berberis' World

Saturday, 5th July 2008, Blackheath Halls.

When I first got hold of the vocal score for David Fanshawe’s African Sanctus I was immediately drawn to the picture which graced the front cover. When I opened it, I could see that it was going to be a challenge to sing. The decision-making process which led to the choir singing this piece had been very democratic; choir members wrote on a very large sheet of paper what they would like to perform the next term. At the end of the evening, it seemed that African Sanctus was the popular choice.

As other people collected their copies, I skimmed through the pages of this large volume. All through the score was notation, hand-written by Fanshawe, details about the inspiration behind the music, and a little doodle which is his signature. I stopped at ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, prose I know by heart from endless repetition at church and school.

A confession. I can take an instant dislike to things; people, food, music, films, wallpaper… name a category, chances are I’ve taken an instant dislike to something included within it. I am not afraid to admit that my opinions have, occasionally, been found to have been too hastily formed and have needed to be changed somewhere down the line. The degree of embarrassment which accompanies this volte face varies depends firstly on the alacrity with which I formed said first impression and, secondly, the intensity of my initial dislike. First impressions aren’t always the most lasting.

Bearing that in mind, it would be fair to say that when we started to rehearse African Sanctus I didn’t like it. However, at the end of the performance on a sultry 5th July 2008, I liked it even less.

I’d listened to it on CD numerous times, as I do with every piece I’m going to sing, in an attempt to find the hook. Despite this, I found the whole thing tedious, even embarrassing. It might have been the overtly religious text, or the sometimes jarring blend of 60’s hippie-dom with world music, but there was little about it that I found either moving, exhilarating or fulfilling. Notably, The Lord’s Prayer, accompanied by guitar and drums was as mawkish and saccharine as Sir Cliff’s later Millennium Prayer.

To judge by the rave reviews I’ve read, my negative response seems uncommon. Even the presence of the composer himself at one rehearsal, as well as the performance, failed to spark in me the excitement apparently felt by many choir members. So it’s obviously not the piece, it’s me. I can live with that. No-one should ever feel obliged to like something – be it music, food, clothes, books, films, anything – simply because everyone else does.

I’d need to listen to African Sanctus again to remind myself which bits were the most pleasing, melodically but, to be honest, I’d rather not.