I was one of a number of people who turned up at Bath Abbey at 5 o’clock on Saturday to hear evensong sung by the Spectrum Singers. This was advertised on the Abbey’s website and on the lists of services outside, but nothing happened.
And finding somewhere for the Cathedral Chamber Choir to stay in Norwich next summer is proving difficult. Both Wensum Lodge (where we stayed last time) and Norwich City College (which seems to have been a standard place for visiting choirs) no longer have accommodation for visitors in the summer.
One thing that did happen was my All Souls’ Day outing – a Bathwick performance of Fauré’s Requiem.
OUCC stayed in a dreadful hotel which, I hear, has now shut. I have a contact in Norwich so I’ll ask.
[This doesn’t refer to the Bathwick performance! VHK]
I marked All Souls, oddly, on Thursday 2nd Nov by playing the organ for the Faure [in a liturgical setting] having had only 8 days notice. I have played it before 3 or 4 times ALWAYS at short notice. Why do conductors choose to do a work and then find they need an accompanist? My guess is that the person who originally agrees to play takes a look at it and decides it is too much work. I use the Novello score and I busk it it places (it isn’t meant to be played just by the organ). Sadly this is another work in which conductors take whatever tempo they like on the spur of the moment. In Thursday’s case we sang the “Sanctus” at twice the marked speed to allow the choristers (girls and ladies) to get throught the phrases. This meant that all the careful work I had done – and it took me 7 hours what with getting used to the console – was wasted, except that I was able to play most of the correct notes.
The evening was really spoilt by the use of incense. Of course what actually filled the church (and the area around the console) was the smoke from the burning fuel they use and foolishly put in charge of some 12 year old. Why they equate visual smoke to quantity of incense I do not know; they are not the same. I actually believe it is a Health and Safety risk. Needless to say I shall not be playing there again.
We were conducted by a former organist at Wells Cathedral who was particularly good at keeping the quiet bits quiet, and had a violin obbligato in the Sanctus. We used the Rutter edition which differs in quite a lot of respects from other editions as regards underlay etc. – you can’t mix and match.
The Spectrum Singers were in Bath Abbey today. I didn’t know some of the settings, in particular a mystery canticle setting I’ve heard a couple of times (generation after Purcell, in A minor). Some of the other music I suspect may have been by or arranged by the conductor.
The wooden and glass screens are now in place behind the choir stalls, but visiting choirs still sound a long way off even from a few pews back.
The Spectrum Singers were back again today. But it wasn’t well publicised; although it was on the weekly notices on the website, when my husband went to the Abbey this morning the service was not advertised outside and the person on the desk inside told him it was at 5.15. Fortunately I didn’t believe this and went to the Abbey at 5, which was the correct time.