Firstly the Messiah in the exotically-dedicated St. Cyriac’s Church, Lacock. I was about due a chance to perform this as I think the last time I sang it was in 2000. The forces could hardly have been more different from the only previous time I sang with the Bath Philharmonia, the Mahler 8 in the 2000 Bath Festival. The performance was only slightly cut; so we sang But thanks be to God, but not for example Lift up your heads.
Finally before Christmas came the Exultate Singers’ Christmas concert in St. James Priory church in Bristol. As there were lots of items on the programme I can only single out a few. The year ended for me as it began, with Morton Lauridsen’s O magnum mysterium. Before this year I had not come across Holst’s Ave Maria, probably because it’s for eight female voices. There were some arrangements new to me, such as Bob Chilcott’s swinging Away in a manger and Andrew Carter’s I wander as I wander, as well as another outing for some Advent music from the Radio 4 broadcast and the carol in Spanish from the Viva! concert; this last, together with another Spanish carol, formed the finale, accompanied by a guitar/percussion duo.