Early christmas tunes and jingles

The Canticle of Joy, which was organised by the Madras Musical Associations’s (MMA) in association with the Poona Musicale, a renowned 80-member strong choir, and the Chennai String Ensemble, drew in many a concert-goer with a taste for worship music.Held at the Museum Theatre, Egmore, the first half of the evening was dominated primarily by Poona Musicale’s female singers, who were clad in their trademark blue saris.They, along with the men. belted strong notes in unison and were accompanied by violins, cellos and double bass.The choir was led by conductor Daniel Manoharan.When his nineteen-yearold daughter, Jasmine Irani took over from him and conducted a number of peppy tracks that ushered in the Christmas spirit, some of the younger members of the audience were impressed. Perhaps one of the most memorable performances was a medley titled Born in Bethlehem, that had one singing along to familiar tunes like Go Tell it on the Mountain and Long Time ago in Bethlehem.One of the high points of the evening was when Korean soloist, Young Joo from Poona Musicale, took stage to sing the Italian composition, Nella Fantasia.With a phenomenal vocal range and stunning performance, she was definitely an audience favourite.However, with one performance following another without a single break for over two hours, the audience did find the concert a bit monotonous.And then, there was the Chennai String Ensemble playing a lively instrumental piece — Mozart’s, Divertimento in D, conducted by MMA’s Augustine Paul, to pick up the pace and cast a different spell.For the finale, the Poona Musicale and MMA, accompanied by the Chennai String Ensemble, came together for a rendition of Handel’s popularly sung, Hallelujah Chorus.One could almost hear the gentle chimes of church bells in the distance by the end of the evening.