University Choir Carols

The University Choir sang its first Christmas service at Memorial Church this year, replacing the traditional performances of the Harvard Glee Club and Radcliffe Choral Society. It was evident that the new Choirmaster, John Ferris, has expended great care and energy in drilling his chorus, which breaks a long-established Choir precedent by including Radcliffe members.

Mr. Ferris' program was well-chosen and balanced, although none of the carols was particularly striking. There was enough variety in the material to display the Choir's flexibility and fine tone, as well as its more-than-adequate intonation. Credit for the excellent balance must go to the director, whose attention to the niceties of choral singing, such as elegant diction, indicates his ability to maintain the high technical standards of the Harvard choral tradition. He favors rather dramatic changes of color and dynamics which may not please those accustomed to a simpler style, but which never suggest the theatrical.

Perhaps the finest singing of the program was heard in the familiar Coventry Carol, a delicate song, delicately phrased and shaped. It was followed by the service's only real lapse, a glib medley of old carols arranged by Gustav Holst called "Christmas Day." Such glossy potpourris might better be left to television.

Throughout the service the organ and harpsichord playing of Lois Pardue was exemplary. She was joined at the beginning of the program by two flutists in a lovely Bach sonata which benefited, as did the Choral singing, from the fine acoustics of Memorial Church