Drakensberg Boys Choir Concert

This was probably the most spectacular evening of music that the Stilbaai Music Society has mounted since its inception. An appreciative audience packed the Community Hall to enjoy the music presented by a magnificent choir and it was no surprise that its performance was greeted with acclamation and a final spontaneous, well deserved and extended standing ovation.

Since its founding in 1967 the choir has developed an international standing and this became apparent the moment 100+ talented singers opened their programme in the most moving way: the hall was in darkness, recorded pealing bells sounded and the choir entered from the back, each boy carrying a lighted candle and singing the well-known Processional Carol Once in Royal David’s City with its thrilling descant in the last verse. Thus began an imaginative, highly professional and charming presentation of the choral achievements of these boys.

What was impressive was the extraordinary scope of the works that the choir handled so effortlessly. It ranged from a 16th Century carol sung in Latin a cappella (unaccompanied) through great choruses from Handel’s Messiah, to difficult modern compositions by minimalists John Tavener and Arvo Pärt, as well as contemporary African carols and a Gospel-style arrangement of Save the Children


The choir members knew every piece by heart so there was no distraction from their concentration on what the conductor required. The unobtrusive conducting and control by Johann van der Sandt was masterly. While the original choir had been made up of trebles only, more recently it has retained those boys whose voices have started to shift from treble to lower registers – alto, tenor or baritone. This has allowed for the use of a far greater range of music and harmony. The balance between the parts was effective, the diction clear and a particular feature was the boys’ ability to sustain their notes in chords and musical lines where unusual and testing dissonances featured. It was clear that the boys thoroughly enjoy their singing and participate fully in the presentations that involve body movements. Of special note was Dream a Dream in which the choir separated into groups that moved into various positions throughout the hall, continuing to sing but without missing a beat or sliding off key – a remarkable achievement.

The evening was brought to an end with the hall plunged in darkness and the boys slowly lighting candles one from another, creating a warm glow. Then the choir sang a special arrangement of Silent Night with tuned tinkling bells playing the melody and providing a Christmassy atmosphere.

All that remains is to congratulate firstly the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir, the School and all those associated with it on creating a musical heritage of which all South Africans can be proud, secondly the Stilbaai Music Society for taking the initiative to provide a most memorable evening of music, and thirdly the Stilbaai commercial and residential community for generously hosting the boys and their teachers.

John Stonier26 November 2008.