Nicola Lisle talks to conductor Duncan Saunderson about Summertown Choral Society’s forthcoming concert

Summertown Choral Society is celebrating two special occasions this year – its own 55th anniversary, and conductor Duncan Saunderson’s 20th year with the choir.

Unsurprisingly, then, their forthcoming concert has a suitably upbeat feel to it with its twin themes of the seasons and the countryside.

At its heart are the exuberant Spring and Summer sections from Haydn’s The Seasons, first performed in 1810 and often overshadowed by his enduringly popular oratorio The Creation.

“It’s at least as good as The Creation, and it’s also great fun,” says Duncan. “It’s set in the countryside with simple country folk, lots of chirping of crickets and croaking of frogs and slightly drunken wenches and youths, and it’s just full of fun and vitality.”

Complementing the Haydn are Dvorak’s Songs of Nature, Bartok’s Three Slovak Folk Songs and Praise the Lord in Heaven by Russian composer Anton Arensky.

“The Dvorak songs are really beautiful pieces, while the Bartok songs have a very Eastern European sound and there’s some very interesting subject matter. One of the songs is about a young girl who is married off to a bad man in another country and she comes back to her mother as a blackbird and sings a very sad song.

“The Arensky has a remarkably English feel to it. If you closed your eyes you could almost think Stanford or Parry. It’s quite extraordinary. This suggests, of course, that he might have spent time in the west or studied with composers who had spent time in the west.

“So it’s a lovely mix. Quite meaty with the Haydn, then some really interesting shorter pieces but all linked with this lovely theme of the seasons.”

Soloists for the concert include prize-winning soprano Louise Wayman, along with two recent Oxford graduates, tenor Ben Durrant and bass Brian McAlea.

“Living in Oxford, it’s possible to use young soloists who have clearly got big careers ahead of them and it‘s fascinating to see them at the start of their careers,” Duncan says. “It’s very nice for them to have a bit of experience in a set-up where it might not matter quite so much as if they were singing in the Royal Opera House!”

A former lay clerk at New College and now a busy singing teacher, Duncan looks back on his twenty years with Summertown Choral Society with great pride.

“One of the highlights is that we’ve now got a thriving chamber choir, The Summertown Singers, and since 2002 we’ve travelled to Spain, Italy and France.

“It’s a wonderful experience singing Italian madrigals in Italy, French folk songs in France and Catalan folk songs in Barcelona. We did a concert at one of the most prestigious wineries in Spain and raise 35,000 Euros for a stroke unit in Madrid.

“Another highlight is the commissioning of new works. Over the last ten years or so we’ve had commissions from Grayston Ives, the director of music at Magdalen; Philip Moore, a distinguished composer and ex-organist of York Minster; and of course Summertown’s own Andrew Gant. That’s been a great pleasure to generate some music.

“An overall highlight is the lovely people who’ve sung with the choir. They might not be professional singers, but there’s so much erudition and expertise among them, for me it’s always a huge privilege to conduct them.”

Summertown Choral Society: Haydn Spring and Summer

St Andrew’s Church, Oxford

June 4, 8pm

Tickets: ticketsoxford.co.uk or summertownchoral.org.uk