After listening to the heavenly sound of ‘the Silent Night Holy Night’ resonating in the chilly streets of Manhattan, it was no less thrilling to hear the same from a band of sixty of the Kottayam Mixed Voices for the 39th time the other day.

The classic Christmas village song of 1818 written by Joseph Mohr, a village priest of Austria and composed and sung by his compatriot Francis Xaver Gruber, evoked memories of the chapel choir rendering it in my younger days at the 200-year-old CMS College, Kottayam. The venue had now shifted to the town’s K.C. Mammen Mappilai Hall packed to full as always.

Dazzling Xmas fare from maestro Abraham C. Mathew

To my pleasant surprise the choir master Abraham C. Mathew, 70, continues to hold his magic wand in the new avatar of Director, spending 37 years as a student and teacher of Botany in CMS College, and has completed half a century of association with devotional music. His wife Elizabeth aka Ancy was his student till her masters and a member of his choir throughout.  

The Mixed Voices has a troupe of seasoned sopranos, altos, tenors and basses including the “I am sixteen going on seventeen” genre. Abraham’s doctor son Jithin, his wife Dr Sangeetha (her very name means music), granddaughter Naomi and grandson Noah were in.

Aby and partner Ancy

It is a musical family as in the case of Captain George von Trapp of the Sound of Music, one of the greatest musical films shot in Innsbruck, Austria sixty years ago. Aby is as tall as Christopher Plummer, the hero of the film. Ancy is like Julie Andrews, the heroine. Their younger son Dr. Vineeth and his wife Dr. Rubina are also singers.

Aby told me the thrilling story of the beginning of his association with church music at the young age of 12. He started playing organ at his village church of St Andrews of Pannimattom under the tutelage of Kunchiyamma, wife of C.K. John, who was the brother of Rt.Rev.C.K. Jacob, the first non-English Bishop of the CSI Diocese of Kottayam.

Over the years he must have wielded the baton to hundreds of choral singers. The parade continues to his granddaughter Naomi and her band of fifteen singers and Chackochen, the teen son of singer Jibi, was on the keys. 

Kunchiyamma, Aby’s organ tutor & husband CK John; his brother Rt Rev.CK Jacob

The programme started with the universally acclaimed “O come all ye faithful’ by the 18th century English versifier John Francis Wade. Paradoxically it was followed by an equally mellifluous solo “O come all you unfaithful” by Bob Kauflin and Lisa Clow of Sovereign Grace Music in Louisville Kentucky sung by Jithin Mathew Abraham.
Among the Malayalam hymns was the beautiful “Annoru Sundara Ravil” by V.C. Cherian. It was in fact a musical tribute to Cherian who passed away at 90 on June 22, 2024 after eight decades of devotion to choral music. Rising from the rank and file, Cherian learnt the rudiments of church music at the age of 12 to become a reserve organist of the Holy Trinity CSI Cathedral when he was 22.

This was when the vicar of the Cathedral the legendary Rev. C.I. Abraham who went to England to study theology brought experts from the London Royal College of Music to Kottayam to train his choir.

Harmony in its crescendo

Cherian rose to become the organist of various choirs of the town and also of the CSI Abu Dhabi congregation. His son Cherian Junior and grandchildren follow the same musical path.

I am also reminded of two giant choir masters of the Cathedral during the 1960s-George Koshy (Thankappan) and M. Thomas Thomas (Kochukunju) who were leaders of the Xmas eve carols when a giant hot air balloons were sent up.

Another equally beautiful one aired at the Mixed Voices was “Manoharam” by Marina Thomas composed by her husband Thomas Jacob Kaithayil.

Aby told me that out of the 1985 inaugural singers only a very few have survived to sing in the 2024 concert.

A pre-carol slice of the singers

‘Joy to the World’ by the 18th century German-British composer George Frederic Handel was another attraction. There was also Handel’s “Let God Arise” accompanied by Naveen. A trio sung by Aelu, Susan and Nikitha was a beautiful rendering. A quartet by Varun, Anil, Gibu and Reuben was an effortless vocal blend. Dr. Jithin is the soul of the LSQ - Living Stones Quartet raving on YouTube, Amazon Music and Spotify. Dr. Anil G. Varghese also did a solo of James C. Ward’s ‘There is a new star, a new star shining in the east.’

I was glad that many of my senior and junior friends were among the singers, notably Susan Roy, my sister Lalitha’s cousin and C.A. Abraham, my college mate.

Musical homage to the pioneer VC Cherian

Roy and his son Roshan were members of the choir of the CSI Ascension Church, Kottayam till Roy left for Abu Dhabi in 1999 and Roshan died of cancer in 2011 when he was only 21. Roy was the organist and the choir master and was part and parcel of the Mixed Voices. He led the 2024 Christmas carol service of the CSI congregation in Abu Dhabi while his daughter Reshma sang in this year’s carol in Doha.

Born is the king of Israel-trio Aelu, Nikitha, Sruthi

My mate CA Abraham or Reji, on the other hand, is an evergreen presence in musical events in his hometown and is quintessential part of the choral group ‘Masters Men’. Son of cathedral vicar Rev CI Abrham, and former he has almost seven decades of association with church music-as a singer and choir master.

To my delight, I bumped into the look-alike twins Rohit and Rahul among the audience. They are doing their masters in mathematics in CMS College. After all, musical notations are based on maths. Their mother Sanitha was among the singers.

Rev.CI Abraham, choirmaster George Koshy; Rtd principal CA Abraham

The Mixed Voices Key Board was deftly handled by Dibin Abraham Kuruvilla, Jithin Mathew Abraham, Naveen Itty Jacob and of course by the Director Abraham C. Mathew.

Here are the YouTube links of two of the choicest fares from the Kottayam Mixed Voices:

Family Trio-Roy, Susan, Reshma; Roshan left for ever

Annoru Sundara Ravil, hymn, music by VC Cherian
https://youtu.be/TBYPGnKBtsc?si=gSYP1aC7VF2Hmww0

New Star-Ward & Paul; solo by Dr Anil G Varghese
https://youtu.be/APZQlsdAHj8?si=Xs_bYo8G_MMlE-dV

Audience; singer Sanitha flanked by her twins Rohit, Rahul