The following day I was off to London where the Erleigh Cantors were hitting the big time: St. Paul’s Cathedral. This was the first time this choir had sung there; I have previously been with a couple of other choirs, though not within the lifetime of this blog. As it happens, on my last visit (with the Cathedral Chamber Choir) I sang canticles by Howells and an anthem by Bairstow, and this happened again. I suppose the big acoustic suits these composers.
As at Worcester, we arrived shortly before major organ work was to be dedicated and the new work wasn’t totally ready. Our organist got to try out the Cathedral’s new toy – a movable console – but it was located under the dome and behind the conductor’s shoulder which wasn’t the easiest place for contact and the resulting ensemble. The choir stalls are famously far apart, though I couldn’t decide whether they are actually as far from one another as at, say, Lincoln. Or are they much further apart and the size of the building creates the illusion that they are closer than they really are?
I sang Howells’ Gloucester Service again, but first soprano this time so there was some variety. The anthem was Bairstow’s Lord, Thou has been our refuge which is the kind of anthem that can only really be done in cathedral services because of its length. Just as you think it’s reached its climax, another section unfolds. At any rate, I don’t think it started any wars. The service music also included the Sanders responses and a Richard Marlow psalm-chant which was freely based on O for the wings of a dove.
The Cathedral staff made sure that we slotted into the physical and time spaces where the choir was expected to be; I got the impression of being a replacement part in a complex mechanism. (As opposed to the approaches of many other cathedrals: leaving you to your own devices, finding space for you only after everything else has been accommodated, or regarding you as a positive nuisance!)