Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to plan some singing engagements for the next few months. Two fixtures I haven’t sung in recently may reappear: a Requiem in Paddington on All Souls’ Day and Good Friday in Wells Cathedral with the Bath Camerata. It looks like I’ve booked a weekend for the Cathedral Chamber Choir at Peterborough for early next year (so far, one of the most efficient Cathedrals I’ve dealt with). 2006 also brings a couple of weekends with Priory Voices. And next up is a Eucharist at Exeter Cathedral in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, I’m waiting for a reply to the letter I sent Durham Cathedral last month.
On Sunday I went to evensong at Bath Abbey, sung by the men and girls of the choir. But I don’t recall much about the music, since someone was taken seriously ill very near me part way through the service, and left the Abbey in an ambulance towards the end of it. I hope she was all right in the end; perhaps a regular at the Abbey (I know you’re out there!) could reassure me, if they know.
I realise I haven’t been to hear a visiting choir at Saturday evensong at Bath Abbey for ages. Is it just because I’m busier, or are these services rarer than they used to be? A few years ago there would be a couple a month, or about 20-25 in a year. If there are fewer now, why? I don’t get the impression that there are fewer choirs out there willing to visit. Perhaps it is because there are fewer Saturdays available, because the Abbey is used more for concerts and organ recitals. Or perhaps it’s because there was disruption from two interregna in quick succession, the first of which was a long one.