When Merlin Channon moved to Eye in 1973, he took one look at Eye Parish Church and said: ‘Right, we’ve got to have a choir here.’ And so, on January 2, 1974, he sent an open invitation for anyone interested in joining a new choir to meet in the music room at his home on Church Street.
‘My father only knew two people in Eye,’ remembers Biddy Channon, Merlin’s daughter, who still sings with the choir after 50 years, ‘but 35 people turned up on the first night. There wasn’t enough room for everyone. The sopranos had to sit on the stairs, so you could only see their feet from the piano.’
St John Perry was among those first members. ‘People just kept arriving... and disappearing further and further up the stairs. We decided what we were going to start with, Bach’s Jesu, Priceless Treasure. I opened my music, expecting us to go through it one line at a time, but oh no, Merlin raised his hands and we were supposed to start singing!’
In 1984, to mark Eye Bach Choir’s 10th anniversary, Merlin described this rehearsal as ‘a remarkable occasion’. There is no doubt among members, past and present, that Merlin was a remarkable figure, particularly in the musical history of Suffolk. A close friend of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, he played a key role in the recording of Britten’s 1958 opera, Noye’s Fludde, and conducted the music at Britten’s funeral in 1976.
But it is also remarkable that Eye Bach Choir has continued to grow over the past 50 years, even after Merlin’s death in 2015. It now has more than 40 members, which Leslie Olive, who has conducted the choir since 2007, describes as ‘an astonishing achievement for such a small market town’.
So what are the secrets of this success? Why do people keep coming back, throughout the dark winter months, season after season, in some cases for decades, to sing together on a Friday night?
‘Well, we have to start with the music,’ Leslie insists. Bach choirs began to emerge from what Leslie describes as ‘a resurgence of musical life in the late 19th century’, and Bach is still a key part of the repertoire. The 50th anniversary season began with a performance of Bach’s Jesu, Priceless Treasure and concluded with the formidable B Minor Mass.
But there is also much more, from early music, including Purcell and Vivaldi, to Dvořák and Vaughan Williams, and modern repertoire, such as Lauridsen and Paul Carr.
‘There is the whole range of human emotion in this music,’ Leslie explains, ‘from joyful exhilaration to heart-rending sadness. It touches the human spirit, just as other types of music do, but in its own unique language.’ He remembers a recent rehearsal where one woman left ‘bouncing’, ‘full of the joys of spring, and you think to yourself, yep, that’s worked tonight.’
Leslie is only the third conductor in the past 50 years, taking over from Margery Baker in 2007, and just as Biddy recalls her father ‘starting choirs wherever we lived’, so Leslie reflects on his own career as a conductor.
‘What I’ve tended to do is start things,’ he says, referring to The English Arts Chorale, Reigate Summer Music Festival, the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra and outstanding youth choirs in Kent, Surrey and Essex.
So it’s no surprise that the Eye Bach Choir has a collaborative spirit, teaming up with other choirs and orchestras to perform, in Leslie’s words, ‘the larger choral works with greater confidence,’ such as Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, performed alongside English Arts Chorale at Dorking Halls and Bury St Edmunds Cathedral to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Vaughan Williams’ birth.
The choir also enjoys performing with local schools and young soloists who are about to embark on professional careers in music.
‘We’ve always had a very strong focus on education,’ explains Felicity Golding, longstanding chair. It's a value shared by Merlin and Leslie, both former teachers, but also with the choir’s new patron, Baroness Deborah Bull, former creative director of the Royal Opera House, who continues to promote the arts in education.
But Felicity agrees that an arts organisation can only grow over such a long period of time, and in a small rural town like Eye, if there’s a genuine sense of friendship and adventure among the members. ‘We’re large enough to explore this great range of music, but still small enough so that you get to know everyone.'
'There has always been a very strong spirit of friendship and goodwill,’ Biddy explains, recalling how her father used to persuade his friends – most of them professional musicians – to accompany the choir at concerts. And the concerts are still sociable events, with music performed alongside the famous Eye (‘High’) Tea, where members bring homemade sandwiches and cake to share with the audience.
People come from all over East Anglia to take part, including Halesworth, Woodbridge, Norwich and Ipswich. There's even one member who travels from London each week. Many current members discovered the choir after moving to Suffolk, while looking for a creative outlet and the chance to meet a new group of people.
Felicity recalls joining the choir in 1987. ‘My husband and I both wanted to come; Friday night was perfect because we’d never have a meeting. But we still didn’t know what it was going to be like. Are we going to know anyone?
'But, of course, you do meet people and, over time, you find out that these people also sing somewhere else, and so, before long, a whole life of music opens up.’
The Eye Bach Choir is always looking for new members. ‘We try to welcome new members as best we can,’ Biddy explains, ‘and there are section leaders who make sure everyone feels comfortable and well-supported.’ Felicity suggests anyone who would like to take part is welcome to come along to rehearsals on Friday night in Eye Town Hall before deciding whether to do an informal audition.
For anyone tempted to join, St John has this message: ‘Joining the choir completely changed my life. It introduced me to a whole new world of choral music, in which I’ve had the chance to develop special bonds with my fellow choir members who’ve gone on to become friends for life.’
Where to hear Eye Bach Choir
November 16: A concert featuring living composers Howard Goodall, Paul Carr, Morten Lauridsen
December 13: Christmas Concert with New Buckenham Silver Band at Eye Town Hall
Information and tickets at eyebachchoir.co.uk
