Dress code casual (and warm)

We ignored the second part of this directive for my first concert performance in 16 months, in the place where the previous one had been, Gloucester Cathedral. This time we were out of doors in the Cloister Garth (the lawn in the middle of the cloisters, scene of 3 Choirs photos) and while it’s usually sensible to assume that cold will strike up through the Cathedral flagstones, it was a very hot day and no such warning was necessary; a greater danger was that the accompanying keyboard would overheat.

Members of Gloucester Choral Society sang a selection of the pieces we’ve been working on. All previously known to me, though I had not performed ‘Victoria’ ‘s Jesu dulcis memoria or Viadana’s Exultate Justi in the lifetime of this blog, and had only sung Poulenc’s Salve Regina once before, ten years ago (the rest of the choir had done it in a concert just before I joined). Rossini’s O salutaris hostia last came my way, rather poignantly, in the final weekend I sang with Priory Voices (not that I knew it was the final one at the time) and Grieg’s Ave Maris Stella was another piece I’d previously done with Priory, in Gloucester! There were some much more familiar pieces as well including some of the standard Bruckner so it wasn’t just a memory test.

We had an equally informal audience of people who’d wandered into the Cloister Garth, some to eat their lunch. In a normal year the choir would have a long gap between seasons, but it will not be much more than a month till we meet again.

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