On the Sunday of my Ely visit, Cambridge Voices (described in their publicity as ‘one of Europe’s finest choirs’!) came to rehearse Bach’s B minor Mass in the Lady Chapel under the direction of Ian de Massini. I dropped in, because I sang in the predecessor of this choir, the Cambridge Chamber Group, and knew many of its members. While the chapel was being set up I ‘worked the room’ and went round as many people whom I remembered as I could find in the time! And it was good to find that they remembered me too – in fact more than one suggested that I should insinuate myself into the choir for the concert, though my travel plans didn’t allow for that.
I notice that an altar with an elaborate iron fence round three sides (I forget the correct term for this) has appeared at the east end, which tones down the effect of the statue in the Chapel. I still suspect that the statue will be taken down for repairs before too long, and that these repairs will go on indefinitely.