So now looking back at the whole enterprise – was it worth while? Definitely. From what I’ve heard it sounded like I picked a particularly vintage year in which to be involved. The BBC really missed something by not recording some concerts for broadcast, as they have done in some previous years. Even the drearier bits of Gloucester (and I’m afraid there are quite a lot of them) seemed bathed in a benign glow during the Festival. I acquired some favourite spots such as the ‘blogging bench’ just outside the Close, on which I made use of the city wi-fi to upload some of this stuff. Would I do it again? I’m certainly not ruling it out, but it can’t be in 2017.
I learnt a lot (other than the large quantity of notes which were new to me), particularly about making the most of rehearsal time. I was glad that I’m now better at pacing myself than I once was, because otherwise I’d never have lasted the course.
Was the Festival what I expected? There was certainly a lot of Elgar and if you came looking for English music from the first half of the 20th century, you wouldn’t be disappointed. Actually when you go back to that period, the Festival had a strong international flavour; for example, a Gloucester Three Choirs hosted the premiere of Sibelius’ Luonnatar in 1913. It’s also moved around the calendar. I was put off involvement when it happened in August, but the Olympics provided an excuse to move it earlier into July, allowing lay-clerks August off and a sensible rehearsal schedule for the chorus. Back in 1913 it was in September!