I thought I had sung in enough major orchestral works for the first time for one year, but another came up at short notice; the wordless chorus in the final movement of Holst’s Planets suite. This was put on by the Keynsham Orchestra, conducted by Mark Gateshill, in St. John’s, Keynsham, a handsome church which I’ve seen many times without ever having entered. It boasts a impressive brass candelabrum which would not disgrace any cathedral, elaborate monuments, and lots of needlepoint kneelers. The concert was well attended with large slabs of home-made cake on sale in the interval.
Holst asks for the choir to be in a separate room, but the most practical solution was for us to be tucked behind a pillar, with a view of the conductor. The chorus part is not totally simple (for one thing, it isn’t in the same key signature as the rest). The second soprano part, which I was doing, is a lot less strenuous than the first. Singers came from Bristol Choral Society and the Chew Valley Choral Society.
Earlier we’d heard Berlioz’ arrangement of the Rákóczi March (I’m not particularly keen on national music in general, but this piece makes me wish I were Hungarian or failing that French) and Seren Nickson and Erin Cacace were the young and accomplished soloists in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante.
Meanwhile, my husband went to hear the Piatti Quartet in the old Theatre Royal and was impressed; the Bath Recital Artists’ Trust get some good performers. The programme ended with Schubert’s string quintet, which he believes he hadn’t heard live before, because he didn’t know how the cello parts were distributed. It also included music by Haydn, Frank Bridge and John Hawkins.