The Erleigh Cantors sang a concert in St Peter’s Earley, built around three settings of the Magnificat. Two were settings we’ve trotted out in various Cathedrals: Giles Swayne’s (I have been so well drilled in this that I can now sing it without panicking) and Andrea Gabrieli’s for three choirs. The newish one to me was Arvo Pärt’s; in fact I had been listening to it, thinking what a shame it was that I’d never sung it, the day I was asked to sing in the concert. (My musical memory though had failed me because I did sing it in St Alban’s a few years ago!) It is one of those pieces that sounds deceptively easy, but isn’t, the hard bit being to maintain pitch.
We opened with three anthems by Purcell, including I will sing unto the Lord (another piece I’d never sung) and Jehovah, quam multi sunt hostes mei (with two tenor soloists so Mr Gostling’s low note was edited out). However connoisseurs of low notes got one in our encore, Rachmaninov’s ‘Nunc Dimittis’, to balance all those Magnificats.
Our second half also included James Whitbourn’s ‘Son of God’ Mass, for choir and (in its concert version) saxophone. Our saxophonist Anna O’Brien, was in a little gallery at the far end of the church which worked well as she was not required to play together with the choir. The music occasionally betrays its origins as the background music for a TV series, as well has having the odd Brucknerian moment, but went down well with our audience. By the performance I’d got used to reading the saxophone part and automatically transposing it to get my notes. The audience also enjoyed the closing number of the official programme, Sing!, an arrangement by Jonathan Willcocks of Widor’s toccata where the choir sings some words about God over the organ.