Tenby Male Choir's concert on Thursday, August 2, for Tenovus, netted well over £1,000 for the local cancer charity.

It always helps the choir to sing to such a large and enthusiastic audience.

Highlights of the singing were new pieces - 'Y Tangnefeddwyr' and 'Christus Salvator' by Eric Jones.

'Portrait of My Love', made famous by Matt Monroe, also new to the 2012 repertoire, also went down particularly well, as did the trilogy of Yugoslavian folk songs collected by choir founder Graham Stubbs and present MD Ian 'Wilbur' Williams.

The concert was introduced by Mrs. Suzanne Bevan from Tenovus, and compèred by David Blackmore.

Gothic Delight

The other highlight of the concert was an all-too-rare solo performance by St Mary's Director of Music, Dr. John Harrison.

St Mary's has a magnificent pipe organ dating back to 1869, and John is an accomplished and versatile master of the instrument.

In the first interval he played the famous motif from Saint-Saëns organ symphony (no 3), followed by 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' by JS Bach.

He concluded with the magnificent Toccata from 'Suite Gothique', by Léon Boëllmann (1862 -1897).

In the second interval, John played 'St. Anthony's Chorale', attributed to Haydn, and then brought his performance to a stunning climax, raising the roof with the famous Toccata from Widor's Organ Symphony no 5.

Tenby Male Choir is very grateful to John Harrison for his support, encouragement and additional accompaniment on the organ.

We are proud to have him as an honorary vice-president of the choir. It was particularly nice that choir president, Roy Noble, and his wife, Elaine, were in the audience to see and hear John perform.

The choir's next public performance is the annual concert for the RNLI on Thursday, August 30.

More information about the choir and details of its programme are available on the official website: http://www.tenbymalechoir.org">www.tenbymalechoir.org, where there are clips of the choir singing available to download.

We can also be seen and heard on YouTube.com . A recent addition to YouTube is a clip of John Harrison's performance of the Boëllmann and Widor pieces.

Just search for 'Gothic Delight Tenby'.

One of the remarkable features about these and many other organ pieces is that the melody is played with the feet!

Concerts permitting, choir rehearsals take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Tenby and County Club on the Croft.

More photos are available on our Facebook page. Prospective new choristers and guests are always welcome.

Anyone requiring more details should contact the secretary, Eric Mullins, on 01834 845117.

S.C.