Monthly Archives: December 2013

Our Tavener tribute

Much Christmas programming must have included something by the late John Tavener. Our carol service included God is with us near the end. This piece has been on my wishlist for a few years, despite the fact that it is … Continue reading

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Remembering the Messiah again

The annual memorised performance of Messiah came round again. I had been worried that I would be back to square one with learning this, but some of the harder choruses to memorise, such as All we like sheep, fell into … Continue reading

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O Clavis David

Our Advent carol service used the O Antiphons and I was assigned O Clavis David, which posed the question of how to pronounce ‘sceptrum’. I decided on ‘ske-‘ with a rather soft k sound, which according to the rules is … Continue reading

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The War Requiem in Bristol

The second performance of the War Requiem came a week later in Colston Hall. We were large forces and disposed rather differently from when I sang the work there before. I was positioned round the side of the choir with … Continue reading

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The Britten centenary at Merton

In between two performances of the War Requiem, I went to Oxford and heard two evensongs; a midweek one at the Cathedral and another live evensong broadcast from my old College, Merton, centred around Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia. This … Continue reading

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The War Requiem in Gloucester

Our performance of the War Requiem was given jointly with the Gloucester Choral Society, and our first performance was in Gloucester Cathedral with Cathedral choristers in the boys choir. I’ll save my reflections on the piece itself for later. The … Continue reading

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Mozartfest 2013 – 2

On the Tuesday evening I was back in the Assembly rooms with our youngest for the Trio Wanderer, a French ensemble who played Mozart’s K502, Ravel’s piano trio and Schubert’s D898 in poised yet expressive performances. This was my son’s … Continue reading

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