The Chantry Singers disbanded in autumn 2010. A couple of years ago there was a reunion, and as it was a success they had another one – in the meantime I’d got myself added to the invitation list as a former member of the choir. I wasn’t in fact in the Chantry Singers all that long – two separate periods of time adding up to about four years, most recently in 2004 – and you will look for me in vain on any choir photos. But the choir had quite a slow turnover (much less, for example, than non-founder members of the Exultate Singers), and a reunion is more likely to attract those who were part of the choir for a long time, so I recognised almost all of the people present. Talking to a former committee member, I realised that I probably left at the wrong time, as soon afterwards its organisation was reformed so that the choir was no longer slightly expanded or slightly reduced for some concerts (it did continue to include the occasional ‘bumper’ though).
We rehearsed assorted mostly sacred pieces and performed most of them at the end. This provided (like the recent rehearsal of Elijah) further evidence that once I’ve sung a piece I never totally forget it. Among the pieces were Lennox Berkeley’s Missa Brevis and Haec dies by Donati. I did the Berkeley a couple of times as a student and the Donati just once, even earlier, and yet once I started singing them I recognised both. Unfortunately while I don’t totally forget pieces (with the possible exception of some totally unmemorable ones) I don’t remember them perfectly either. There were some other pieces that were new to me: part of Josquin’s Missa de Beata Virgine, Victoria’s Dum complerentur, Peter Philips’ Gaudent in caelis, (surprisingly) Byrd’s O Lord make thy servant Elizabeth, Les fleurs et les arbres by Saint-Saëns, and more recently Ave Verums by Paul Mealor and Philip Stopford.