Music for a summer evening

Being a church-based choir, they took a ‘break from the norm’ on a fine June night to perform a rousing selection of songs from The Lemonade Kid, written by Peter Fardell and edited by Alison Hedger.

With members ranging from P1 to S2, the Junior Choir displayed great teamwork and togetherness under the leadership of committed Choirmaster Lorraine Mulholland.

The selection contained interesting musical numbers (‘Sweet Lemonade’ and ‘You Don’t Need a Gun to Change the World’ and the toe-tapping ‘Showdown Hoedown’) and had the audience rootin’ and tootin’ in the pews. Delivered with superb diction and clarity for their age, smiles a-plenty and an abundance of enthusiasm, the Junior Choir truly are a credit to the Eddleston community and the obvious dedication and motivation of their leader.

The introductory set by Eddleston Voices began with the infectious popular song ‘Catch a Falling Star’ (words and music by Lee Vance and Lee Pockriss) sung clearly and with feeling and followed with ‘The Gift of Music’ (words and music by John Rutter), another well-performed harmonious number that really was a gift to the ears.

Katie McIvor then took centre stage next and quietly introduced her clarsach set with great poise. Bach’s ‘Prelude in C’ and ‘Said and Done’ by Nils Frahm were both beautiful and, at times, haunting. McIvor’s second set later in the evening treated the audience to a mesmerising rendition of Edith Piaf’s ‘La Vie en Rose’ and the traditional Irish piece ‘The Waves of Gola’.

Following such serenity, it was the turn of Lorraine’s adult choir, Eddleston Voices, to make another appearance for their second set. ‘Non Nobis Domine’ and ‘The Lord Bless You and Keep You’ were both performed with clarity, articulation and good spirit. For their third set, later in the evening, the ladies began and filled the air with ‘A Croon’ arranged by Clifford Fletcher. The whole choir followed with the melodic ‘Eriskay Love Lilt’ arranged by Simon Carrington. The final piece of this set was the up tempo ‘O Gin I Were Where Gadie Rins’ and again the audience were joyously clapping along. Adam Rennick then introduced his violin set with good humour and great confidence. His selection boasted two well-executed Mozart pieces in addition to an Italian piece ‘La Rotta’ from the fourteenth century. The Innerleithen youngster was recently accompanied by Lorraine and passed Grade Two with Distinction and is now working towards Grade Three- an evidently talented young lad.

Eddleston Voices final selection brought the evening to a close. Movie songs ‘Moon River’ and ‘42nd Street’ were entertaining and enjoyable. The Abba favourite ‘Thank you for the Music’ featured in the movie and stage show ‘Mamma Mia’ had listeners singing in their seats and the concert was brought to a close by an arrangement by Anne Lewis of the traditional song Auld Lang Syne.

Lorraine Mulholland was deservedly thanked for the music, motivation and dedication and well-rehearsed accompanist Kirsty Peebles was also commended for her support. With a varied selection of music in the programme and dedicated performances from singers and musicians alike, this concert truly was perfect music for a summer evening.