I read the novel of this title recently, though Brahms’ music doesn’t really feature in it except as a chat-up line. Last Saturday I sang in his German Requiem in Bath Abbey. For this the Chantry Singers joined forces with the Bristol Bach Choir, who are comparable apart from being rather more numerous. They don’t seem to be affected by the current shortage of singers relative to choirs in Bristol, as they have a substantial waiting list in some voices.
A few years ago I was sorry to miss an opportunity to sing this with the Bath Camerata. But that would have been with organ, and it really does need an orchestra. I can’t imagine being left cold by this work, but it was clear from talking to others in the choir that some of them were. Perhaps I’ll write about my own blind spots some other time.
It was hard work rehearsing this with small numbers, all the more so because some sopranos either weren’t doing this concert at all or were singing alto. I can think of few choral works I’ve sung which have such intensive choral writing, with little time off: Israel in Egypt, or Cherubini’s Requiem (the latter of which dispenses with soloists alogether). This time round I felt much more comfortable with the demands it made than I did when I first sang it.
The space for singers in the Abbey is limited by the narrow nave, and I was in about the fifth row of sopranos and altos (out of eight). This only works if everyone (especially towards the back) watches the beat closely, as I think we did. I don’t attempt to review here performances in which I took part, but I’m told we got a good writeup in the Bath Chronicle, though it didn’t make it to the online edition.
The next thing I do is Rejoice in the Lamb on Palm Sunday. I am doing the soprano/treble solo in this (for the first time); it has similar interplay of two against three to the Copland I did recently, but at a much slower tempo! Arrangements for Westminster Cathedral on April 17th are also falling into place nicely.