The second half of the Chandos Singers’ concert opened with a Salve Regina by Liszt. The rules governing the length of each beat, we were told, were very complex and the net effect on the beat was rather like that of physical laws on a chaotic pendulum – unpredictable to the casual viewer, so no choice but to watch!
Our first half was based around Victoria’s Mass Ave Regina caelorum (just 8 parts this time) and there were several other settings of the text on the programme. One was by a mediæval composer I hadn’t encountered before, Leonel Power, in which I was part of a semi-chorus. Other pieces included a substantial psalm setting by Schütz, Ich hebe meine Augen auf and Turn thee unto me by Boyce. We brought back a few items, including Elibama, that we’d performed on the opening night of the Bath Festival.